The MLB trade deadline is officially in the books, and the Houston Astros came away with two left-handed pitchers. The first trade was made on Monday when Houston sent Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido, and Will Wagner to the Blue Jays for starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (4-9, 4.75 ERA).

On Tuesday, the 'Stros addressed the bullpen by adding Yankees reliever Caleb Ferguson (1-3, 5.13 ERA). In exchange for Ferguson, the Astros sent the Yanks High-A Ball right-handed pitcher Kelly Austin.

Not everyone is happy with the moves

The Astros have received a lot of criticism for the Kikuchi trade, with most analysts saying the Blue Jays got over on the 'Stros. Which had many fans upset that the Astros would trade with the Blue Jays, considering Houston's former GM James Click currently works in Toronto's front office.

Many feel like he had extra motivation to squeeze the Astros after he and the team parted ways after winning the World Series in 2022.

There are people that believe Click lost a power struggle to Dusty Baker and Jeff Bagwell. Whether that is true or not is up for debate, but that is the perception of how things went down, like it or not.

Which leads to one of the biggest questions about the trade. Why deal with Click and the Blue Jays at all? Click knows the Astros farm system probably as well as Astros GM Dana Brown does. So he knows which players to ask for, and how the Astros owner and advisers operate at the trade deadline behind the scenes.

There were plenty of other options the club could have pursued, which may not have come with such a hefty price tag.

For instance, A's starting pitcher Paul Blackburn was traded to the Mets on Tuesday. New York only had to send away their third round pick from last year to get that deal done.

Blackburn does have some concerns. He recently returned to the big league roster and pitched for the A's on July 26 after rehabbing a foot injury that he sustained in May. Maybe the Astros didn't want to take the chance on another injury.

But the point is, he's a back of the rotation starter just like Kikuchi, and he costed significantly less to acquire. He's also under contract in 2025 unlike Kikuchi.

On the bright side

The Astros have been able to acquire pitchers in the past, coach them up, and make them significantly better. Kikuchi has great stuff to work with, and no one knows how good the prospects they traded away will turn out to be.

If Kikuchi can take some innings off the rest of the staff, and help the team make the postseason, most fans will likely be happy with the deal.

Be sure to watch the video above as we go live and cover every angle of the Astros 2024 trade deadline and what it means for the club moving forward.