{"id":786423,"date":"2026-07-27T01:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/786423\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T01:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:14:15","slug":"dana-brown-doubles-down-astros-anticipate-buying-at-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/786423\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana Brown doubles down: Astros \u2018anticipate\u2019 buying at trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 Before the Houston Astros\u2019 longest winning streak since March ended Sunday, general manager Dana Brown doubled down. He has broadcast his intention to buy before the Aug. 3 trade deadline on numerous occasions, despite speculation that a selloff could be coming. In any other season, or perhaps under any other front office, the latter option might make sense.<\/p>\n

But these are the Astros, led by a GM in the final season of his contract, managed by a man facing the same fate and owned by someone averse to anything associated with a rebuild. Even if there\u2019s reason to believe starting one would be in the franchise\u2019s best interest, asking an executive on an expiring deal to kickstart it would be curious.<\/p>\n

With Brown\u2019s contract set to expire after the season, this club must make the playoffs if he has any chance to receive another one. Merely playing postseason baseball might not guarantee Brown or manager Joe Espada new deals in Houston, but missing out on it altogether might seal their fates with owner Jim Crane.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Brown called reaching the postseason<\/a> \u201cthe end all, be all.\u201d Expecting him to operate with any other mindset is absurd \u2014 both for his own future and for Espada\u2019s ability to hold together a clubhouse that has clawed back to the precipice of playoff contention after a 20-31 start.<\/p>\n

Who are the top prospects in baseball right now? <\/p>\n

Keith Law<\/p>\n

\u201cThe division is wide open. The wild card is wide open. There\u2019s some parity there. There\u2019s a lot of teams bunched up,\u201d Brown said on the Astros pregame radio show Sunday. \u201cI think the team that gets hot is going to be the team that takes the run. We would anticipate that we\u2019re going to be buyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s comments are not a revelation, even if they run counter to MLB conventional wisdom. The Astros have a minus-47 run differential and are three games under .500 following Sunday\u2019s 12-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox. They have not been above .500 since April 6. FanGraphs gives Houston a 27.4 percent chance to reach the postseason. Only five American League teams have longer odds.<\/p>\n

Dangling shortstop Jeremy Pe\u00f1a, closer Josh Hader or either of the Astros\u2019 corner infielders \u2014 Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker \u2014 could produce the sort of return package needed to revive a farm system the industry does not hold in high regard. Doing so during a deadline with so few sellers might even increase the value of a potential return.<\/p>\n

But the team\u2019s appetite to do so seems nonexistent. The 2026 Astros are so depth-starved and reliant on their top-end talent that trading Paredes, Pe\u00f1a, Hader or ace Hunter Brown would all but eliminate their playoff hopes. And getting this team to the postseason is Brown\u2019s foremost objective at the deadline, not stockpiling for a future he might not be around to oversee.<\/p>\n

The Astros could move someone like Walker while still operating as buyers, but that would require replacing Walker\u2019s production with at least one or two offensive additions at the deadline. Though Walker is mired in a 10-for-64 funk, he is still one of just four qualified Houston hitters with an OPS+ greater than the league average.<\/p>\n

Adding at least one bat remains Brown\u2019s top deadline goal. He has seemed to soften his stance on acquiring a left-handed hitter \u2014 \u201cat this point,\u201d he said Sunday, \u201cwe\u2019ll take whatever production we can get\u201d \u2014 but he does believe it will be an outfielder. No outfield in baseball has a lower batting average or OPS than Houston\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for some type of offensive bat that can play the outfield,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIf it\u2019s a left-handed bat, great, but any type of offensive upgrade that can help lengthen the lineup would be our focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trading Walker, who has a limited no-trade clause and is owed $20 million next season, would offer the Astros more flexibility under the luxury tax. That they already created some by sending Lance McCullers Jr. to the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> is instructive of their process. It also raises questions about whether they need more relief.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind, too, that Crane called McCullers and asked him to waive his no-trade clause. According to McCullers\u2019 memory of their conversation, the two men discussed why the trade would \u201cleave the Astros in a good situation leading up to the deadline.\u201d After the deal, Brown acknowledged that it was made, in part, for financial flexibility.<\/p>\n

Houston has paid the luxury tax in each of the past two seasons and, judging by cost-cutting moves made this offseason, the franchise wants to avoid paying it this year. If that is the case, both Walker and Cristian Javier appear to be the most likely trade candidates. Walker means more to the 2026 Astros in terms of leadership and production, and he would be a right-handed power hitter in a market without many of them.<\/p>\n

Javier, who has a $12.8 million luxury tax salary, lost his place in Houston\u2019s rotation after an early-season shoulder injury and has not pitched out of the bullpen since July 19. His three relief appearances have all come in games the Astros trailed by at least three runs.<\/p>\n

Finding a way to move either Javier or Walker would allow Brown to widen his search for reinforcements, even if Houston must pay a portion of either player\u2019s remaining salary. The Astros\u2019 relative dearth of prospect capital makes his path feel even more realistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, if we can take from our major-league surplus \u2014 whether it\u2019s some of the pitching we have coming back or some of the minor-league guys that we have full control over, we will do what we need to do to try and add,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to make sense for the present and the future. As you always hear me say, I operate both in the present and the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doing so seems impossible for an executive without any assurances past Sept. 27, but Brown must try. His team boarded an Anaheim-bound jet Sunday afternoon within two games of both a playoff spot and first place in the AL West. Three gargantuan games with the current division-leading Texas Rangers loom next weekend \u2014 in the final three days before the following Monday\u2019s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Precedent suggests Brown will make a move before it. He operated as an aggressive buyer in all three of his seasons with the team before this year.<\/p>\n

Now, with his job potentially on the line, Brown will do so again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Before the Houston Astros\u2019 longest winning streak since March ended Sunday, general manager Dana Brown doubled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[373,363,99],"class_list":["post-786423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-houston-astros","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}