The Houston Astros have had an extremely interesting 2025 season so far, going from a team that could barely get above or below .500 to sitting at 32-27, good for second place in the American League West. Their success has been immensely fun to watch, and the impressive performances from Hunter Brown, Jeremy Peña, Jake Meyers and more have fueled this team into a competitive look.
Following these strong showings, the discussion now surrounds the idea of the MLB trade deadline, or rather, what the Astros will look to do when that time comes around. They have clearly focused on surrounding their core long-term pieces with young talent and were just waiting to see how it panned out. As of now, it looks promising, which begs the question: could the team look to add at the deadline?
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com had a discussion about this recently, looking at each MLB team and discussing which category they may fall into. Houston is not only being looked at as a buyer, but one of the high-profile buyers.
While predicting who may do what this far in advance is extremely difficult, it makes for an interesting discussion, no doubt. Feinsand made his choices recently, and the Astros were listed among six other prolific franchises in the more than likely buyers, and with a few others in the overall category:
"This category is far trickier, especially for clubs hovering around the .500 mark. There are some that absolutely figure to be buyers barring some kind of unforeseen collapse, with the Yankees, Tigers, Astros, Phillies, Mets, Cubs and Dodgers leading the way."
"The Mariners, Padres, Giants and Cardinals certainly appear to be on a buying track, as do the Blue Jays, Twins, Guardians and Royals, all of whom are firmly in the AL Wild Card mix."
This is extremely intriguing, as being mentioned alongside some of the elite teams in the league right now is certainly not where many expected them to be only a few weeks ago. However, their hot streak has made it so that investment into the roster may not only be a want, but a need. Building around the young core is great, but if the roster is overperforming expectations, it may be time to bump the timeline up a bit and see what they can do in the short term to facilitate success.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!