The Astros closed out the symbolic first half of the season with a pair of losses to the Texas Rangers in Minute Maid Park. Fortunately, the Mariners also stumbled into the All-Star break leaving the Astros just one game back in the division with a head-to-head series in Seattle next week after the week off.
With the All-Star break this week and the trade deadline looming just weeks away, the Astros, who have had a near complete reversal of fortunes after their rocky start, have plenty of questions to be answered as they get deeper into the summer. Here are five key decisions they will need to make in the next month.
What to do about Rafael Montero?
The Astros have clearly been working around the struggling reliever. When he finally did get an opportunity on Sunday, he gave up his eighth homer of the season, essentially putting the game out of reach. Montero is in the second year of a huge three-year deal that made him the highest paid no-closing reliever in baseball. He has not come close to living up to that money. Now, the Astros are actively having to work around his spot in the bullpen begging the question: Should they just cut him? It would be the second such move after Jose Abreu, another signing prior to the hiring of GM Dana Brown but after former GM James Click was fired, was released earlier this season. Montero is taking a spot that he doesn’t deserve. It may be time for owner Jim Crane to eat another contract for the good of the team.
Should Lance McCullers, Jr. shut it down for the season?
McCullers has not pitched since game three of the 2022 World Series when he gave up seven runs in four-and-a-third innings. He had only played in eight regular season games that year. In his career, he has pitched more than 150 innings just one, in 2021. Prior to that 162.1-inning season, his career best was 128.1 in 2018. After rehabbing from another surgery this offseason, he was expected to make a comeback this year, but had a setback that has pushed him back until at least August, maybe later. At what point do the Astros just shut him down entirely? That will be most of 2022 plus all of 2023 and 2024 lost to injury. It will also mean that nearly three of his five-season extension he signed before 2021 will be paid despite him not throwing a pitch. He will be a free agent after the 2026 season.
Do the Astros go big at the trade deadline?
No doubt Astros fans would love to see them swing for the fences before the deadline. Names like Pete Alonzo and others have been floated. The problem is the team has few assets to be able to dangle in a serious deal, particularly if they are unwilling to unload major league roster talent to land a player. And they still must consider the fact that Alex Bregman is a free agent this year and Justin Verlander may very well be if he cannot reach the 140-inning threshold that triggers another contract year. That sets aside both Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez, free agents after next year. It puts owner Jim Crane and GM Dana Brown in a very tough spot as the deadline approaches.
How do they rebuild the farm system?
In the first round of the MLB draft on Sunday, the Astros took a catcher from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. The team has said their plan is to take the best players available regardless of position because they may eventually play at the big league level or they might wind up in a trade. With most draftees several years off from even considering pro ball, it makes sense, but the Astros still have some monumental holes in their minor league system that need filling. They lost their second round pick as compensation for the Josh Hader signing, but hopefully they can add depth in additional rounds.
How can they balance rest and still winning?
This is a team that has had to expend a ton of energy through the first half-plus of the season, particularly in the bullpen thanks to a poor start. They have had to prioritize winning over giving guys days off and they could clearly use the rest this week. But how do they manage those minutes going forward? We’ve seen Joe Espada give days off to players even when the team seemed to struggle, but if the race continues deep into August and September, will they wear their guys down — particularly the young players and rookies who have never worked this much — ahead of the postseason?
Be the first to comment