Astros Setting Focus on Trade for Padres Ace To Bolster Starting Rotation

The Houston Astros have made it clear what needs they are looking to address ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

General manager Dana Brown has not been shy about discussing the team’s desire to add to their lineup. Ideally, they would add a left-handed hitter who plays the infield, but they aren’t going to turn down an opportunity to add a lefty even if they play the outfield.

Along with the lineup desires, the team is on the lookout for a third pitcher who can make postseason starts.

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The Astros have as good of a one-two punch as any team in baseball with Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown atop their rotation.

Beyond those two, things have gotten messy with so many players on the injured list.

The team is patiently awaiting the returns of Spencer Arrighetti and Cristian Javier. Luis Garcia is still working his way back from an injury suffered last year. 

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Lance McCullers Jr. is on the injured list again, along with Brandon Walter. Hayden Wesneski and Ronel Blanco are both out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The rotation needs some reinforcements and Houston has set its sights on a specific player: Dylan Cease.

According to Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required), that is who the Astros are looking to land.

“Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that Cease is at the top of the Astros’ wish list as the trade deadline nears, according to sources briefed on the team’s discussions,” they wrote.

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The San Diego Padres ace was floated as a trade possibility over the winter, but given the team’s place in the National League standings, it was believed he wasn’t going to be available.

But, to address other weaknesses on their roster, Cease’s name began popping up on the rumor mill again recently as a trade chip to upgrade elsewhere.

Adding him alongside Valdez and Brown would give Houston as strong of a starting pitching trio as there is in baseball.

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Matching up with the Padres on a trade will have its difficulties with San Diego’s preference for adding MLB-ready talent. Even if they wanted prospects, the Astros don’t have many to offer with a farm system that ranks near the bottom of baseball.

Acquiring Cease would follow a similar game plan that Houston used last year when acquiring Yusei Kikuchi from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Both players were rentals, set to hit free agency after the campaign, brought in to help stabilize a rotation for what the Astros hope is another deep postseason run.

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