MLB Rumors: Juan Soto trade buzz, Astros untouchable prospect, Dodgers-Cubs blockbuster

MLB Rumors: Astros have one near-untouchable piece at MLB Trade Deadline

The Houston Astros are looking to repeat as World Series champions, but they no longer have the same, easy path to the postseason that they have once had in recent years. The Texas Rangers are one of the best-scoring teams in baseball, while the Los Angeles Angels are holding their own, keeping pace with the Astros for second place. Not to mention that they had to overcome missing Jose Altuve for the start of the season, and now wait for Yordan Alvarez to make a return down the road from a right oblique injury.

Houston is in a position to add at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. If they do, they would have to give up some prospects. As it turns out, there is one prospect the Astros have no desire of moving to a different team.

According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Astros say they are “highly reluctant to move outfielder Drew Gilbert.”

Gilbert is Houston’s top overall prospect, whom they selected in the first round of last year’s MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee. In just two years, he’s worked his way up to Double-A. Here is what MLB.com says about Gilbert’s potential:

"“Gilbert is extremely aggressive in all phases of the game, yet his superb hand-eye coordination enables him to repeatedly barrel balls and produce high exit velocities. His left-handed stroke can get long because he hunts home runs, and while he rarely strikes out, he does make more ground-ball contact than desired. He’s not physical but does have enough bat speed and strength to provide 15-20 homers per season without selling out for power. “Gilbert has solid-to-plus speed and uses it to steal and take extra bases. His quickness and instincts allow him to cover ground in center field, where he shows the plus arm strength that produced fastballs clocked up to 93 mph during infrequent college pitching appearances. A fiery competitor with a lot of emotion, he’s destined to become a fan favorite but needs to play more under control at times.”"

This season, split between his time with the High-A Asheville Tourists and Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, Gilbert recorded a .268 batting average, a .375 on-base percentage, a .443slugging percentage, nine home runs, 30 RBI, 45 runs scored, and 63 RBI in 63 games played.

Houston will look to add, but it sounds like they would need convincing to surrender Gilbert, per Nightengale.