Houston Astros are playing hardball on a possible Noah Syndergaard trade

The Houston Astros are still in pursuit of Noah Syndergaard but they’re playing hardball when it comes to dealing for him. What’s the latest rumbling?

The Houston Astros are working toward coming to a resolution for their thinning pitching depth as the July 31 MLB trade deadline approaches. This date will be here before we know it and we’ll all be wondering whom the Houston Astros acquire after the dust settles.

The Houston Astros typically surprise us with their trade acquisitions — they usually acquire a player that wasn’t necessarily tied to rumors, they’ll shock the onlookers and the Houston Astros are an improved team as a result.

Who could that player be this time around?

That’s certainly the million-dollar — or multi-millions if they’re targeting a starting pitcher — question and I’m anxious to find out who it is. Whomever they pick, I’m positive the decision will be a prudent one that will help this team continue to be great.

So let’s review the starting pitchers that the Houston Astros are targeting, shall we? They are as follows: Matthew Boyd, Robbie Ray and the biggest prize of them all in Noah Syndergaard.

Talks have turned on and off like a faucet over the past few days with the some saying that they’ve cooled to a point of them not happening at all.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Houston Astros have “backed off” negotiations because of their reluctance to trade top prospect, Kyle Tucker.

Tucker, who’s ranked No. 1 among the team’s Top 30 prospects as per MLB Pipeline and ranked highly in just about every MLB prospect ranking you can think of, still has amazing value so it’s important not to let his big leagues debut last season that involved him barely batting his weight to deter from his retention.

Tucker is currently popping .260/.344/.561 along with 27 homers and 75 ribbies for Triple-A

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Round Rock this season so he has proven that he’s the best among the best in the minors.

I’d imagine that Tucker wants to be called back up as soon as possible so he could get his feet wet again in the big leagues. But it’s not a matter of what he wants but that the Houston Astros have an appreciating asset that they won’t give away easily.

And that’s where we’re at with Syndergaard, who hasn’t pitched hot as of late but that would likely change once he has a change of scenery and better run support in his stable.

I don’t blame the Houston Astros for this stance — it’s always good to have multiple contingencies because although Jeff Luhnow is pretty darn good at projecting the future, he’s still human and Tucker is a card that he needs to have in his hand. This is even if there’s a shuffling of the deck.

Next. Astros remain hot on the trail for Trevor Bauer. dark

With the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves expressing interest, are the Houston Astros are as good as out on the sweepstakes?

We’re about to find out so buckle up.

Syndergaard, 26, possesses a 7-5 record, a 4.33 ERA while tossing 126 strikeouts off 61 earned runs through 126.2 innings pitched in 20 starts. He has a tepid 3.64 FIP and 1.26 WHIP.

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