Astros need to acquire another pitcher as good as Keuchel

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The Houston Chronicle’s, Jerome Solomon, joined The Blitz and talked about possible trade scenarios for the Astros, how soon they should make a deal, and how much they should be willing to give up for a difference making starting pitcher.

The Astros know how to reload

There is one thing that the Astros are very good at, and that’s stocking a farm system. Jerome believes Jeff Luhnow should go ahead and use some of his premier prospects to go get a front line starting pitcher. He’s not looking for the Astros to acquire a back of the rotation player to compete with Brad Peacock. We’re talking about a pitcher that is on par with Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers. If there is ever a time to push your chips in the middle of the table, this is it.

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The Astros don’t have anywhere to play these guys

Jerome makes a great point that the Astros are so loaded at the minor league level that guys like Derek Fisher can’t even get any playing time unless there’s another injury. Before the season, you didn’t know that Marisnick was going to hit this well, but now you do. If Derek Fisher can be a trade piece that brings you another ace, it’s time to go for it. The Astros had five draft picks in the top ninety-one selections in this year’s draft, so they should be able to restock the farm system quickly if they were to lose some top prospects in a trade. Also, Jerome doesn’t see the Astros taking on the salary of a player like Justin Verlander. If they wouldn’t sign a player like Verlander to a huge contract in free agency, they aren’t going to do so in a trade either.

They should make a deal soon

This deal needs to go down as soon as possible so that the Astros can see how the new pitcher performs over his first couple starts before the All-Star break. The reason for doing this is to see how the move is impacting the ball club with plenty of time before the trade deadline. If things aren’t going as planned, Jeff Luhnow would have some time to explore other options. The final reason to make a blockbuster deal soon is the uncertainty surrounding Dallas Keuchel’s neck, and Lance McCullers’ history of injuries. Even if they comeback healthy, there’s no guarantee they will stay that way through the playoffs.

You can listen to the full interview below. Make sure you catch Fred Faour and A.J. Hoffman on The Blitz weekdays from 4-7pm CT. You can listen live or on demand with the ESPN 97.5 radio app.