The Yankees and Astros have spent most of this season viewed as the best teams in the AL. And they have similarities going into the trade deadline.
They badly want to add to their rotations, though they will fall back to further stock strong pens if necessary. Their farm systems are down because of graduation to the majors, trades over the past few years and injuries and downturn in performance among key farmhands. That makes it more difficult to trade when both organizations already are frustrated by the asking prices and the lack of options, a group made smaller by the Mets obtaining Marcus Stroman, who interested both the Yankees and Astros.
Their strengths are deep, relentless lineups. The Yankees’ slash line was .270/.344/.473, the Astros were at .270/.346/.477.
Houston’s postseason edge is that in Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander they have two of the best starters in the majors. But Cole is due to be a free agent after this season after the Astros lost Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton to free agency off of last year’s team. So they are feeling pressure to find a starter not just to finish off the 2019 squad, but in the best of all worlds be part of next year’s rotation.
“The Yankees and Astros are going to be on all the same (starters),” an executive from a seller said. “It feels like part of the competition between the teams this year.”
Just one chance
Front offices are focused on trying to improve their teams by the 4 p.m. Wednesday trade deadline. But they are expressing concerns that it is the only deadline.
In the past, July 31 was the non-waiver deadline — anyone could be traded without passing through waivers. Then from there until Aug. 31 trades could be made if a player passed through waivers or by a claiming team directly with the team from whom they claimed a player. But non-waiver trades were eliminated beginning this year.
So executives believe there will be more little trades to create organizational depth before the deadline because the August safety net is gone.
“You have to think about the bat on the bench, the third lefty, not household-name kind of guys,” one executive for a contender said. “You have to think about depth players. You may have to get a veteran and send a better player with options down just to have the depth before rosters expand in September. I think there is a market for unsexy, small trades that is going to happen.”
