MLB Trade Deadline 2017: 5 best spots for Jose Abreu
By John Buhler
Houston Astros
AL, West
With a 16.5-game lead, you might as well go for it. When will the Houston Astros ever have a lead this big in a divisional race again? Houston can play .500 ball for the next 2.5 months and still win the AL West without breaking a sweat. For now, it’s about stockpiling as much on-field talent as the Astros can to win the pennant. One position they could use a boost is at first base.
With as weird of a left field porch it is in Minute Maid Park, being a right-handed power hitter for the Astros might be exactly what Abreu needs to bolster his stats before hitting free agency. In the meantime, he can rake with the likes of George Springer and Evan Gattis as titans in the batter’s box from the right-handed side.
Does Houston need Abreu to win the pennant? No, but wouldn’t Houston rather him be working for the Astros the for a division rival or a serious threat out of the AL East? Nothing would wreck Houston’s season quite like seeing the winner of the wild card game lean on Abreu in the ALDS to beat top-seeded Houston. All the more reason the Astros need to pull the trigger to make a big move like this.
That being said, adding a short-term bat at first base like Abreu isn’t Houston’s primary need at the deadline. The Astros need a starting pitcher more than anything to take some pressure of Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers down the stretch. However, it would be a real treat to see Abreu put some balls into the left field bleachers down at Minute Maid Park playing for the Astros in August, September and October.