Once again, the Houston Astros are in first place in the American League West.
Over the past few years, the Astros have done nothing but win. This has been the most successful organization in baseball over the past decade, but entering the season, many didn’t expect that to be the case. The Astros allowed Alex Bregman to walk in free agency and traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs.
But in typical Houston fashion, the team sits at 36-30 and holds a three-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the West. As they head towards the trade deadline, it’s certainly possible that they look to go all in this time around, understanding that it might be one of the final years they have an opportunity to compete for a World Series.
Searching for potential ways for them to make a splash, Michael Brauner of Sports Illustrated proposed the idea of the Astros trading for Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, one of the top arms in Major League Baseball.
The Braves are 28-38 and 2-8 over their last 10 games, with many expecting them to sell at the trade deadline.
“It would not come cheap by any means, but a megadeal for Sale would give the Astros a third ace to the rotation and mask the depth issues that season-ending injuries have caused,” he wrote.
Sale is coming off a season where he won the National League Cy Young Award, and has been just as good this year.
While his numbers aren’t as great as they were a season ago, he still has a 2.79 ERA and has struck out 107 hitters in 80.2 innings.
If the Astros could land him for even somewhat of a decent price, it should be something they consider.
