TRADE DEADLINE
5 exciting trade targets for Astros with deadline approaching
Jul 26, 2021, 6:57 pm
Craig Kimbrel would be a welcomed addition to the bullpen. Composite image by Jack Brame.
After completing a sweep of their division rivals Texas Rangers, the Houston Astros currently sit atop the American League West standings and are tied with the Boston Red Sox for the best record in the American League.
As Friday's trade deadline approaches, Houston will be looking to make some moves. They have been said to have interest in outfielders, relief and starting pitchers.
Here are five potential players the Astros could trade for before the deadline.
Craig Kimbel appears to be the most coveted relief pitcher on the trade market, and the Astros have been linked to him for a couple of weeks now.
After signing with the Cubs in late 2019, Kimbrel has struggled to say the least.
The closer's ERA over the past two seasons leaves something to be desired, posting a 6.53 in 2019 and a 5.28 during the 60-game 2020 season.
This year, Kimbrel has returned to his All-Star form with a 0.50 ERA. He is tied for third in the majors with 23 saves, along with St. Louis Cardinals closer Alex Reyes.
The Astros don't necessarily need a closer, as Ryan Pressly has preformed admirably this season, which earned an All-Star nomination. However, they could use some help in the 7th and 8th innings.
In 2019 Pressly was acquired to become the setup man. He was thrust into closing duties during the 2020 season because of Roberto Osuna's season ending injury. Theoretically, if Kimbrel were to be acquired by the Astros, he could become the new closer and Pressly could return to his 8th inning role. Houston could have a dynamic bullpen with both relievers pitching important innings on their way to another playoff run.
Max Schezer has been linked to the Astros, albeit with some hesitancy by the club. The 36-year-old has not pitched since July 18th and is dealing with tricep discomfort.
That being said, any contending team would love to have a World Series champion pitcher to bolster their rotation. The Mets, Dodgers, Rays, and Mariners have all been linked to the former Cy-Young Award winner, in addition to the Astros.
Houston has been hesitant to acquire Scherzer due the aforementioned injury issues, but also what the price would be to get him. He's an unrestricted free agent after the end of the season and is looking for one last big payday. Scherzer's agent Scott Boras made it very clear that Scherzer would not waive his no-trade clause unless his new team offered him a multi-year extension.
The Nationals don't want to give up their ace for nothing, so it may be hard to acquire Scherzer before the deadline without mortgaging the future and giving him a Verlander-esque extension.
If Scherzer is a no-go for Houston, they should look to add Jose Berrios. Although he has not been linked to Astros thus far, Berrios could add some pitching depth. The 27-year-old figures to be wildly popular on the trade market since he's under team control for 2022. He ranks ninth in MLB with 121 2/3 innings pitched and is sporting a 3.48 ERA as well.
Due to his control for next season, the Twins might ask for the moon for their All-Star caliber pitcher. If he could be acquired for only a few prospects and one of Houston's bullpen arms, the Astros could be in line to bolster their already great rotation.
Starling Marte was mentioned to be on the Astros radar last week. Talks have died down since, but adding the Marlins center fielder wouldn't be a bad addition by any means. Marte is hitting .423 over his last seven games with 11 hits as well. He could be an upgrade in center field and could move Myles Straw and Chas McCormick to the bench. Marte isn't a need for the Astros necessarily, but his addition could improve the teams' production both on the field and at the plate.
Byron Buxton could be another interesting name to watch out for as the trade deadline approaches. The Twins and Buxton were unable to reach a deal on a contract extension. Thus, increasing the likelihood of the center fielder getting traded before Friday.
Minnesota already traded Nelson Cruz to the Rays, so the fire sale appears to be underway.
This is shaping up to be an exciting trade deadline for Houston fans. Don't be surprised if the Astros make multiple moves before the deadline passes on Friday.
Unlocking the perfect plan to address Texans' top offseason priorities
Feb 25, 2025, 10:41 am
The Celtics are on pace to join the 2018-19 Rockets and 2020-21 Jazz. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
The NBA is on the cusp of accomplishing something that it hasn't seen before. The jury's still out on whether it's a good thing.
With about seven weeks left in the season, 2-point shots are accounting for 49% of scoring. And if that stat holds up — there's no indication that it won't — this will be the first season in which 2-pointers make up less than half of the league's point production.
The current breakdown: a record-low 49% of scoring comes from 2-pointers, a record-high 36% comes from 3-pointers, and a near-record-low 15% comes from the foul line. Those numbers are just more proof of how the 3-point shot continues permeating the game, and that's why plenty of people are wondering aloud if the league has a real problem on its hands.
“I don’t have any problem with guys and teams shooting a lot of 3s,” said Golden State's Stephen Curry, the league's all-time leader in 3-pointers and someone closing in on 4,000 such makes for his regular-season career. “Obviously, that’s the way that I play, and I love that factor in the game. But you’ve also got to put the work in behind the scenes to take full advantage of it.”
This isn't a new phenomenon.
Barring some sort of major shift in how the game is played over the next seven weeks, the league is on pace to break the record for 3-pointers in a season (it’ll be the 15th consecutive season in which the 3s-per-game record falls) and 3-pointers attempted in a season (a new mark will be set there for the 19th time in the last 22 seasons).
Boston is leading the 3-point assault this year, though the Celtics are hardly the only 3-happy team. But the defending NBA champions are clearly more reliant on the shot than anyone else, with 46% of their points this season coming from beyond the arc. They'll almost certainly become only the third team in NBA history to finish a season with more points from 3s than 2s, joining the 2018-19 Houston Rockets and 2020-21 Utah Jazz.
“Everybody can’t play the same way," Celtics All-Star forward and two-time Olympic gold medalist Jayson Tatum said. "You've got to have the right personnel. But, you know, the way we play works for us. So, we play to our strengths.”
The Celtics are the only franchise in NBA history to have eight different players make 100 3s in a season; they've done it in each of the last two seasons and are on pace to do it again this year. For them, the 3-pointer is the golden ticket; they're 33-6 this season when they make at least 17 3s, and just 8-10 when they don't make that many.
They had five 3-point shooters on the floor together last season and the result was an NBA championship. It was, at times, impossible to guard. Golden State rode the brilliance of Curry and Klay Thompson to four NBA titles in their years as the Warriors' “Splash Brothers," a duo that helped usher in a new era of 3-point reliance. And the math is simple: shooting 40% on 3s gets you more points per attempt than shooting 50% on 2s does.
“Right now, I think the defense has to catch up and maybe NBA teams will shoot less 3s,” San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama said at the All-Star break, before he was shut down for the year with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. “But analytics back it up, so it makes sense.”
Wembanyama was averaging 8.8 3-point tries per game this season, the most of any center in the league, and his 403 attempts on the season from beyond the arc is still more entering this week than some of the game's best shooters — a list of players that includes Phoenix's Devin Booker, the Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves and Miami's Duncan Robinson.
But the numbers say it's a good shot. So, Wembanyama took them. A lot of them. The Spurs, for years, were a team that didn't prioritize the 3-pointer. And now, it's a weapon for them and everyone else in the league.
“The game has evolved,” said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, an elite shooter in his playing days.
It keeps evolving. Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month that he listened to an off-the-record conversation between Kerr and broadcaster Bob Costas at the tech summit during All-Star weekend, the keynote address of sorts for those who were invited to that event. Silver later shared that Kerr conceded there may be a bit too much 3-point shooting in today's NBA, but that he liked the current state of the game and wouldn't recommend any changes.
Silver thinks it's all cyclical. He said when the All-Star weekend last came to the Bay Area in 2000, “many people were saying it was too physical, we were too dependent on the dunk, that players weren’t sufficiently skilled as they were than in the old days.”
It's all very different now.
“The fact now that you can’t play in this league unless you can shoot, that even 7-footers have to be able to shoot these days and have to be able to shoot at long range, I actually think that’s a beautiful thing,” Silver said.