3 Astros MLB trade deadline mistakes Dana Brown will regret

The Houston Astros brushed their brutal start to the season aside and have been performing like one of the best teams in the AL since the start of May to the point where they were able to buy at this year's trade deadline.

The Astros did buy and got better by acquiring Yusei Kikuchi, but it's abundantly clear that with the deadline passed, Dana Brown will have regrets when looking back at the job he did. Here are three of the biggest regrets Brown will have in hindsight.

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3. The Astros will regret not meaningfully addressing the bullpen

The Astros made two moves around the deadline. The Kikuchi trade generated the most buzz, obviously, but they made a minor deal acquiring Caleb Ferguson in a trade with the New York Yankees.

Had this been over the offseason when Ferguson had the reputation of being a solid left-handed reliever with the Los Angeles Dodgers, that would've been an exciting addition. However, Ferguson has a 5.13 ERA in 42 appearances for the Yankees this season. New York, a team competing for a postseason berth themselves, got rid of Ferguson because he was not helping them win. Chances are, if they felt Ferguson was any good, they wouldn't have let him go, much less to their rivals.

Yes, the Astros should be relying on their three-headed monster of Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly, and Bryan Abreu to close out games in October, and have gotten some strong production from guys like Tayler Scott and Seth Martinez, but if they were going to address the bullpen, why not make it a more meaningful addition?

The Astros did not have to pursue expensive rentals like Carlos Estevez and Tanner Scott. They didn't even have to pursue controllable arms like Lucas Erceg and Jason Adam. Why not go after a guy like Andrew Chafin, who instead landed with their AL West rivals in Texas? The Astros' bullpen is not their biggest weakness, but it could've been improved. Ferguson isn't enough of an improvement.

2. The Astros will regret not adding a first baseman at the trade deadline

The Astros entered this season expecting Jose Abreu, a player who showed signs of life in last year's postseason, to be their primary first baseman. Unfortunately, he struggled so mightily to the point where he not only was demoted to the minors at one point but was eventually released entirely despite him being under contract through the 2025 campaign.

Jon Singleton has taken Abreu's place at first base and has filled in mostly admirably, slashing .229/.313/.347 with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 84 games played this season. The problem is, Singleton has just an 86 OPS+, making him well below-average as a hitter, and he doesn't provide much defensive value either. He's been much better than Abreu was, but that isn't saying much.

In Houston's defense, there wasn't much out there for them to acquire. Guys like Pete Alonso and Christian Walker were not ultimately available after their teams got themselves into the postseason race. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was never going anywhere. In fact, the only first baseman who was moved was Josh Bell.

Even with Bell having a down year himself, he would've been an upgrade over Singleton and he happens to be on a tear as of this writing, hitting five home runs in his last seven games before being traded to the Diamondbacks.

Houston's lineup should be formidable when Kyle Tucker returns from the IL even with Singleton slotted in as the team's first baseman, but the Astros had an easy path to improving by upgrading first base. All the Astros needed to do to acquire Bell was give up some cash. Unfortunately, the Astros chose to ignore that need.

1. The Astros will regret trading a haul for Yusei Kikuchi

You knew this would be on here. The Astros made arguably the most questionable deal of the deadline, acquiring Yusei Kikuchi for three exciting prospects. The issue isn't the fact that Houston went all-in on a rental. The issue is that they went all-in, trading two of their best prospects in Joey Loperfido and Jake Bloss, for Yusei Kikuchi.

The pitcher Houston moved heaven and earth to acquire has a 4.75 ERA in 22 starts and 115.2 innings of work this season. His 3.66 FIP and 4.00 indicate that he has gotten a bit unlucky this season, but Kikuchi has never been more than a mid-rotation guy at best. If the postseason started today and Justin Verlander was healthy, would Kikuchi even make their postseason rotation? Is he really that much better than Bloss is right now? These are questions worth pondering.

Adding starting pitching was a necessity for the Astros, and had they added Kikuchi at a better price it would've been more understandable, but the Astros probably shouldn't have offered Bloss or Loperfido for Kikuchi straight up, let alone offering them both plus another prospect in Will Wagner just for a couple of months of Kikuchi.

If the Astros had to trade the farm, why not aim higher with a guy like Jack Flaherty? Why not go out and get a starter with more club control if Flaherty wasn't attainable? Nothing about this makes sense.

Again, there's nothing wrong with the Astros trading from their farm system. They should be doing whatever they can to win the World Series. It's just hard to fathom how they gave up what they gave up and only ended up acquiring Kikuchi. He's an upgrade, but merely a marginal one, and yet Houston gave up some of the few valuable prospects they had.