Astros GM refuses to face trade deadline reality amid another injury crisis

Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown has some tough decisions to make a couple months ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline. Houston is well under .500, but with one of the better rosters in baseball on paper. Unfortunately, the Astros have been hit with some terrible injury luck, especially in their starting rotation.

It's unlike owner Jim Crane to sell at the trade deadline, especially considering some of the players on this roster, which includes Kyle Tucker, Justin Verlander, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and more. Three of those players in Tucker, Verlander and Bregman could flip the deadline on its head if traded, as they all have two years or less remaining on their current contracts. Still, Brown made it clear that he doesn't view the Astros as sellers, even at seven games under .500 and just as many games back of the first-place Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

“I don’t see any scenario where we’re sellers. I think we’re going to be buyers,” Brown told reporters,according to The Athletic. “We’re going to grind it out. I think we’re going to get back to .500 before people know it and we’ll be back in the race.”

The Houston Astros are unlikely to rebuild. Is that the right call?

As ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Tuesday, Crane and Brown have a vision for this group, and even should they miss out on the postseason this season, they believe the current core can compete in 2025.

"Most front offices don't think the Astros will wind up subtracting: It's not owner Jim Crane's style, and Houston still possesses a solid-enough core that contending in 2025 is entirely realistic," Passan wrote ($). "But if the inventory of available players is grim this summer, and if the Astros don't believe they're a playoff team, it's incumbent on GM Dana Brown to, at very least, listen to offers..."

While Kyle Tucker may have dodged a bullet on Monday night, starting pitcher Jose Urquidy is getting a second opinion on his elbow injury -- and the Astros fear the worst.

The Astros could retool on the fly by trading some of their core, getting younger in the process. However, they'd also be punting on this season and potentially next, and Tucker's free agency is looming. Considering the Astros signed Altuve long-term prior to the season, a full-fledged rebuild doesn't appear to be in the cards.