Astros Insider: With trade deadline approaching, James Click explores gamut of upgrades
General manager James Click says clubhouse harmony is something the Astros consider as they weigh potential deadline trades.OAKLAND, Calif. — James Click’s jumbled July is nearing an end. Major League Baseball’s decision to move its draft back a month overworked many front-office executives. The three-day draft ended July 19, leaving Click and his 29 counterparts only 14 days to attack the Aug. 2 trade deadline.
No area of this Astros club needs the type of urgent upgrade that last season’s required. Houston entered Tuesday 31 games above .500 with a 12-game lead atop one of baseball’s worst divisions. The team took five of seven games during a regular-season series from the New York Yankees, the only American League team ahead of it in the standings, cementing itself as a legitimate World Series contender.Clubs like this crave an impact addition. Click could be under pressure to deliver one.
Entering Tuesday’s games, no American League pitching staff had a lower ERA than Houston’s. Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez are a legitimate 1-2 punch atop the rotation. Lance McCullers Jr. will make a second minor league rehab start Wednesday in an attempt to join them. Four leverage relievers have separated themselves as lockdown arms inside a bullpen that boasts the sport’s lowest ERA.
The lineup is in desperate need of more length. If and when Michael Brantley returns from a right shoulder injury, he can afford some. It might not be enough. If Click does not trade for a bat, his full-strength club would start three below-average hitters: first baseman Yuli Gurriel, center fielder Jake Meyers and catcher Martín Maldonado.
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