The Houston Astros have quietly been one of the best teams in baseball this season. This comes after losing Alex Bregman in free agency and trading Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs.
The Astros are expected to be aggressive at the trade deadline. They need to add a starting pitcher or two in the coming weeks. They could also look to add an arm to the back end of the bullpen.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan recently suggested the Astros could look to pursue a trade for Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo ahead of the trade deadline.
“The Astros lost Alex Bregman to free agency, traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs, have spent most of the season without Yordan Alvarez, their best hitter, and currently sport a rotation that includes 26- and 28-year-old rookies,” Passan wrote. “There is no reason they should be this good. And yet they are.
“So even if the cost is heavy and eats into a farm system that’s among the worst in MLB, targeting a pitcher of Lugo’s ilk would give them among the nastiest postseason rotations in the game and further entrench the Astros as a force. Lugo’s peripherals suggest he’s in line for regression, but even if his ERA does jump from its current 2.67 mark, his nine-pitch mix gives him the flexibility to adjust in-game — a luxury shared by only a handful of starters in the game.”
Lugo is one of the better pitchers on the market. He’s quietly dominated for the Royals this season, but his expiring contract makes him an obvious trade candidate for Kansas City.
If the Astros can add such a talented pitcher alongside Hunter Brown at the top of the rotation, they’ll have a chance to steal the top seed in the American League. Houston needs a starter, and Lugo appears to be the best match on the market.
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