The Astros’ recent hot streak has positioned Houston as a clear buyer heading into the July 30 trade deadline. At 46-44 (including 13-4 over their past 17 games), they’re two games back of the division-leading Mariners and 3.5 back in the Wild Card hunt. Among their deadline targets, per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, are at least one starting pitcher and an extra bat — ideally a first baseman. Heyman calls D-backs first baseman Christian Walker the Astros’ preferred target, though it’s not yet clear whether Arizona will sell any veterans heading into the deadline.
The 33-year-old Walker would be one of the most impactful bats on the market — if the Diamondbacks ultimately end up selling. That’s far from certain right now. Arizona is all but buried in the NL West, where the Dodgers hold a commanding 7.5-game lead over the second-place Padres and a 10-game lead over the D-backs themselves. The Snakes, however, are only two and a half games behind the Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot. They’re three and a half games back of the Cardinals, who hold the second Wild Card spot at the moment.
If the Diamondbacks were to fall out of the race, it stands to reason that Walker would at least be available. The slugging, slick-fielding first baseman is a clear qualifying offer candidate, so Arizona wouldn’t necessarily be obligated to move him, as Walker could net them a draft pick if he turns down a QO and signs elsewhere. But Walker is hitting .265/.337/.507 with 22 homers this season and carries a stout .253/.332/.491 slash with 91 homers in 1721 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2022. He’s won a Gold Glove in each of the past two seasons as well. That type of plus offense and defense would make him one of the most in-demand players on the summer trade market.
That’s especially true for an Astros club that has gotten virtually nothing out of its first basemen this season. Houston already released Jose Abreu midway through a three-year, $58.5MM contract — a move that underscores the team’s urgency to turn things around. Jon Singleton has batted just .243/.339/.366 in 233 plate appearances while playing poor defense. Houston’s need for an alternative option is clear, and the team is clearly reluctant to give outfield prospect Joey Loperfido any time at first base (at least in the majors).
As for the team’s rotation, that’s been an area of need for much of the season — though help could be on the horizon. The ’Stros lost both Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy to UCL surgery earlier this summer. JP France had shoulder surgery recently. They’ve seen both Justin Verlander (twice, including currently) and Framber Valdez require trips to the injured list. The only healthy starters on Houston’s roster at the moment are Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown and rookie Spencer Arrighetti. Swingman Shawn Dubin made a start against the Twins recently but was hit hard.
The Astros are hoping to have Verlander back sooner than later, however, and righty Luis Garcia is on a rehab assignment right now as he finishes up his rehab from last May’s Tommy John procedure. Lance McCullers Jr. could join the staff in the season’s second half as well. Still, Houston starters rank 21st in MLB with a 4.37 ERA, and that includes some solid work out of Javier before his UCL injury.
Even if the Astros are planning to get some combination of Verlander, Garcia and McCullers back for the stretch run, it’s possible injuries and workload concerns further impact the situation. Blanco didn’t pitch in 2020, pitched just 45 innings in 2021, 51 innings in 2022 and 125 1/3 frames last year. He’s already at 96 innings pitched. Arrighetti is within 40 innings of the 124 2/3 frames he tossed a year ago. McCullers hasn’t pitched since 2022. Garcia tossed only 27 innings last year before surgery.
There’s good sense to Houston adding some depth and stability, even if it’s not necessarily a top-tier arm who’d slot into a theoretical playoff rotation. Doing so would lessen the reliance on currently injured arms in the season’s second half and safeguard against further injuries.
One factor to consider in any Astros trade scenarios is one of salary. General manager Dana Brown said early in the 2023-24 offseason that he didn’t expect to have much financial flexibility. Houston still spent over the winter, most notably on Josh Hader’s $95MM contract, but that only further raises the question of how much flexibility the team has this summer.
Per RosterResource, Houston is right at the $257MM threshold for the second tier of luxury tax penalization. There’s no major penalty for crossing into tier two — just a hike in the tax rate itself — and it’s unlikely the Astros would add another $20MM and push themselves up to the third tier of penalty (where their top pick in the ’25 draft would be pushed back 10 places). But Houston has only paid the luxury tax twice under owner Jim Crane, and the team has never trotted out a higher payroll than its current 2024 outlay. Time will tell how much Crane is willing to add, but it’s doubtful Brown and his group will be given a proverbial blank check when shopping this month.
Are there any playoff contenders who couldn’t use another starter?
Want Luken Baker?
Does Houston even have the capital to acquire Christian Walker?
Depending on what Arizona’s asking price is the Astros have lots of position player prospects in AA and lower
Yeah I also wonder if the Astros have the prospects to go get him if he is even available.
They have exactly zero prospects in the top 100. They won’t be getting Christian Walker.
But they’re the Astros. Teams should cut them a break for that reason alone (at least that’s the pundits’ opinion).
They have one, Jacob Melton.
Which list?
Nevermind, I just saw him at 68. Maybe updated version or I just missed it. I still think they don’t have near enough to land Walker.
Scherzer for Melton lol.
lol as a dbacks fan I can tell you no way! walker will be signed with us for 4 more years. He’s a great defender and really good hitter. most importantly owns the dodgers
I don’t see Walker being moved with the Diamondbacks a team on the rise.
“walker will be signed with us for 4 more years”
based on what?
Right. That should have already happened. But you never know. First base doesn’t drum up the FA competition like other positions do.
Based on delusional fans.
Scrap Iron
Actually, those comments are based on very intelligent and informed fans. IF, big IF, the Dbacks traded Walker, they would ask for a huge return. Walker is grossly underrated. He has however stated that he’d like to test the market in Free Agency, hence he has not been extended. Dbacks respect his right to do that. They also know that teams will be hesitant to sign Walker away from the Dbacks for huge dollars because their fan base doesn’t know how good Walker is and because of Walker’s age. So, the Dbacks still believe they will ultimately resign Walker.
based on what? Gold gloves? 30hrs a year? Making the chip last year? being a top 1st baseman? Based on what lmaooo
Andrew Vaughn has to be an upgrade right? Maybe his power would increase with the short porch in LF.
Just play Loperfido
Why? He strikes out too much and doesn’t hit the ball hard. He’s been extremely fortunate on batted balls and hasn’t been good lately. He’s so over hyped
I watch every Astros game and I’m shocked when someone says Singleton played poor defense. He’s played tremendous defense whether snagging line drives, fielding difficult grounders, catching every popup, great picks, and feeding pitchers perfectly on difficult plays. If you’re actually watching every game you’d see that. If you’re going by someone’s d-war, etc it just is wrong! He’s not showing as much power as we’d hope for a 1st-baseman but works counts and is hitting ok as well. . We could definitely use a RH-hitting power /average guy to help out .. Anyway, he gets a bad rap and shouldn’t be this year. . Abreu on the other hand was kept wayyyy too long and did bad damage
Well if you watch all the games you certainly don’t know baseball if you think Singleton plays good defense lol. He’s better than Abreu, I will give you that. But dude is extremely out of shape and can hardly bend over, that does not translate into good athleticism and defense LOL
“tremendous defense” ?? Are you serious ?
yes definitely
Flaherty for your rotation and Canha to help at 1B/OF. Tigers need bats, a young SS and a young catcher so what do you have? Jim Biwden Saud IF Flaherty is not hurt the Tigers could get a top 5 and two top 30’s fron an average farm system.
Their #3 prospect is 2023 first round pick Brice Matthews at SS. There isn’t a catcher to be found in the top 30.
Mathews was one guy I liked the looks of. SS is the bigger need for Detroit than Catcher. Maybe an OF like Kennedy Corona or an arm. Houston always seems to produce MLB pitchers from their system. Cheers dude.
I like Matthews and I don’t want to see him go but that’s the business, you have to give something to get something.
Houston is good at making those things work and still producing superstars.
The Cardinals have two catchers in their top 12 plus either Pages or Herrera. The Cardinals might be hesitant to bring Flaherty back. Rumor has it he played a big part in the Contreras not catching debacle last year.
Vlad Jr could be a great fit for Houston.
Houston doesn’t have the prospect capital to get Vlad.
I don’t think they have enough food available to feed him either.
The Astros should be sellers for near-MLB prospects.
Josh bell future Astro?
I was thinking the same thing.
No thank you.
How about Justin Turner? He doesn’t have the power of a typical 1B but he’s very much like Bregman in offensive profile both in batted ball metrics and plate discipline. That could really work in Minuit Maid. He wouldn’t cost anything of note if there’s not much in the system to make multiple trades. Just take the money and bet on the profile to work well enough to stabilize that position and focus the limited prospect capital on the pitching upgrades.
Sign Trevor Bauer then.
Agree. The logic of that seems to escape the Astros front office.
Did Brandon Belt officially retire? He couldn’t be worse than Jon Singleton.
Belt’s from the Houston area. I’d like to know the story behind him not signing or if he was even offered a contract by the Astros in the offseason
Is Heyman on drugs? Arizona will not be trading Walker.
And as usual, this entire article is pure conjecture.
So same as virtually every article about the trade market this early in July lol? A lot of gms don’t even know if they’re buying or selling let alone who they’re going to be specifically dealing rn.