MLB’s trade deadline is less than eight weeks away. The sport is approaching the time when most teams will know if they’ll be buying, selling or simply standing pat. The Astros are clearly a contending team, with FanGraphs currently giving them the second-best playoff odds in the American League. But that doesn’t necessarily make them buyers, or at least serious ones.
High-profile trades typically require a substantial package of prospects. The Astros do not have the farm system they once did, and plainly cannot afford to spend significant prospect capital as they had in prior years.