It would have been an unthinkable question not so long ago, thanks to what recent history has conditioned us to believe about the team. Still, the current standings and reasonable forward-looking projections force us to ask: Will the Houston Astros be deadline sellers, and if so, what might that look like?
Yes, we're talking about the team that's notched 10 straight winning full seasons and has made the playoffs in nine of the last 11 years. Not all that long ago, Houston had advanced at least as far as the American League Championship Series in seven straight seasons and won the World Series in both 2017 and 2022.
A Ugly Start to the Season
Things now, though, are quite different. Thanks to an inordinate run of injuries early in the season, some age-related decline, and years of free-agent departures, the Astros right now are one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball. Their current record of 16-27 puts them in a last-place tie in the weak AL West. Their run differential of minus-44 is tied for worst in MLB.
Also not encouraging is that the Astros thus far have played the weakest schedule in all of MLB as measured by opponents' average winning percentage. Over the rest of the season, however, that toughens up a bit, as the Astros rank 18th in remaining strength of schedule.
Playoff Odds and Future Outlook
Those aren't promising figures, even with what may wind up being a very low bar for contention in the very top-heavy AL. All the serious injuries afflicting core contributors right now mean the Astros may not be positioned to improve upon what is presently a 102-loss pace.
Let's also consider that the farm system is currently one of the worst in the game. That brings us back to the possibility that the Astros move some notable veterans at the deadline in the name of improving their young talent base and shifting organizational focus to the long term.
The Deadline Decision
If that does come to pass and if the Astros commit to it, then it could make them the most compelling team to watch leading up to the Aug. 3 deadline. Given the current nature of the roster and farm system, that may indeed be a defensible path, and they have the pieces to do more than just flip a couple of middle relievers to contenders.
This is not any kind of recommendation, especially with so much schedule left to play before teams need to bucket themselves as buyers or sellers leading up to the deadline. Rather, this is just an entry point into a discussion of what a major selloff in Houston might look like.
At some point, the central matter may become whether owner Jim Crane will opt for a deeper teardown should Houston's fortunes not improve over the next 11 weeks or so. Crane has of course already committed to one such drastic measure, when he greenlit the full-on tank job that directly led to that decade-plus of success now imperiled.
So he has first-hand experience with a teardown and rebuild that worked out. Now consider what the Astros could offer if they do indeed decide it's time for a major organizational pivot ...
The Prize: Yordan Alvarez
The big man would be the prize of the deadline. Alvarez boasts a career OPS+ of 165, which puts him behind just Aaron Judge and Mike Trout on the active career leaderboard. Yes, Alvarez is ahead of Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani, among many others.
This season, he's enjoying an MVP-grade rebound campaign after injuries waylaid his 2025. Thus far in 2026, Alvarez's age-29 season, he's slashing .308/.413/.616 with 13 home runs and 98 total bases in 43 games and almost as many walks as strikeouts.
When healthy, Alvarez is in the discussion for best hitter on the planet, and that's the case this year. As well, Alvarez's contract makes him an even more attractive target. He's locked up through 2028 on the six-year, $115 million extension he signed prior to the 2023 season.