The trade deadline has passed, and it was an eventful one for the Houston Astros. Jesús Sánchez, Ramón Urías and Carlos Correa made their way to Houston at the trade deadline, and the Astros are focused on making a deep postseason run with a 4.5-win lead over the Seattle Mariners in the American League West entering Friday’s opener at the Boston Red Sox.
While the Astros were active, they may have left a stone unturned. Like most of the roster, Houston’s pitching has been shambles this season with several players dealing with injuries. But even though they didn’t get help on the mound at the trade deadline, their next move is obvious, as a former All-Star was released on Friday.
Marcus Stroman Should Be Astros' Top Target After Trade Deadline
According to ESPN’s Jorge Castillo, the New York Yankees have released pitcher Marcus Stroman. Stroman was having a rough season in the Bronx, posting a 3-2 record and a 6.23 ERA, but the 34-year-old could provide some veteran insurance down the stretch as the Astros’ pitching rotation faces some uncertainty.
The Yankees have released Marcus Stroman.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) August 1, 2025
A former first-round pick and All-Star in 2019, Stroman’s career has trended downward since he entered his 30s. After opting out of the 2020 season during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stroman went 10-13 with a 3.02 ERA in 33 starts for the New York Mets. While he’s won 10 games four times in the past five seasons entering this year, his ERA has steadily climbed each year since, including a 3.73 mark in two seasons with the Chicago Cubs and a 4.31 ERA with the Yankees last year.
Still, Stroman could help the Astros down the stretch. Houston has enjoyed another strong season from Framber Valdez (11-4, 2.62 ERA) and Hunter Brown’s first All-Star campaign (9-4, 2.54 ERA). But the Astros have jerry-rigged the rest of their rotation, using Ryan Gusto, Colton Gordon, Brandon Walter, Lance McCullers, and others to patch things together.
It’s not all bad for the Astros as they expect to get Spencer Arrighetti, J.P. France, Luis Garcia, and Cristian Javier back soon. But outside of Arrighetti, who is recovering from a broken thumb, Garcia and Javier are recovering from Tommy John surgery and face uncertain workloads down the stretch.
This made the Astros a logical candidate for pitching help before yesterday’s deadline and had them in the running for San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease. But general manager Dana Brown cited the high cost of pitching as a reason the deal didn’t get done.
“We just felt like the asking prices were too high,” Brown said via the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara on Thursday. “And we know that we have a bunch of starters coming back. So that was an area where we knew we were getting some help.”
Perhaps the chance of depleting one of the worst farm systems in baseball was a good reason to stand pat. It’s also possible the returning starters could give Houston the help it needs down the stretch. But good teams usually find a way to get one more starter in their pipeline just in case something bad happens.
Stroman hasn’t had the best season, and he may not make the postseason roster. But at a cheap price, it’s worth the Astros taking a look and finding another way to patch things up by October.