Houston Astros’ ’emergency’ trade lands Josh Hader help

The Houston Astros have played much better baseball in recent weeks and appear to be a team that could compete for a World Series.

Even though their 46-44 record isn’t what it usually is, the Astros have had to deal with plenty of early-season struggles. Even now, Houston isn’t healthy, but the start of the year has brought challenges like never before.

As usual, they found a way to figure things out and stay afloat, now giving themselves a real chance of winning the division heading into the second half.

Despite his recent performance, it’s not because of how Josh Hader has been pitching. The left-handed superstar has struggled in his last few outings, hitting just one home run in three of his last four appearances.

That’s somewhat concerning, as his ERA is now 4.15. His 1.05 WHIP and 61 strikeouts in 39.0 innings pitched show how dominant he can still be, but he needs to limit the home runs.

As the trade deadline approaches, the Astros are expected to add pitchers to their roster, both in the rotation and the bullpen. They don’t have a very good draft system, so it will be interesting to see what kind of talent they can bring in.

In a trade proposed by FanSided’s Mark Powell, Houston would get significant help from its bullpen by trading two prospects, landing a player who could help Hader and the rest of the bullpen.

His trade proposal would send Jose Fleury and Michael Knorr to the Los Angeles Angels for reliever Carlos Estevez.

“Estevez has a lot to offer, and the tax within the division should be high. In exchange, the Astros would trade two top-15 prospects from a relatively weak farm system…

“Prospects are rarely surefire deals, no matter how promising they appear on paper. This trade offers potential for both sides and is a rare deal within a division that we can get behind.”

Estevez’s role as a stopper poses some problems in this scenario. Most stoppers want to come in and continue to play that role, as they are accustomed to. However, after giving Hader a five-year, $95 million contract, it would be interesting to remove him from the stopper role after a few poor performances.

If Estevez were interested in playing in the eighth inning and even late innings when needed, he would be a great addition. The right-hander posted a 2.89 ERA and struck out 28 in 28.0 innings pitched.