At the Trade Deadline, the Astros made themselves the front-runners for another championship, not just this year, but probably next year as well. Nonetheless, the current odds are still 2-1 against the Astros winning it all. You play the games on the field, and to get through the play-off gauntlet a lot of things have to go right, no matter how dominant you look on paper.
That said the Astros’ starting rotation is now the most feared in all baseball, and no pitching staff feels safe facing the Astros lineup.
To truly evaluate a trade requires hindsight, which of course we don’t have at this time.