What was seemingly looking like a lost season for the Houston Astros has taken on a different feeling over the past few weeks.
After starting the campaign with a 28-35 record, Houston has won 15 of its past 21 games. Narrowing that down some, the Astros are 10-1 in their past 11 outings.
Those major struggles to open the campaign led to rumors that Houston was going to sell off assets ahead of the MLB trade deadline later this month.
General manager Dana Brown pushed back against that idea as his Astros were struggling through a rough start.
“I don’t see any chance of us becoming sellers. I think the team is too good. If guys start to turn a corner, good things will happen,” Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown said back in May.
Houston was 12-27 at the time of those comments. It is 16-8 since. Talk about being MLB’s version of Nostradamus.
Related: Updated Houston Astros news and rumors
Houston Astros expecting to be aggressive buyers ahead of MLB trade deadline
“It’s a pretty interesting group, and they will not hold back at the Deadline,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported on Tuesday. “They will try because they have done that repeatedly under [owner] Jim Crane in the past.”
Obviously, the rotation will be a target area. Current Astros starters José Urquidy, Cristian Javier and J.P. France are out for the season.
Houston has also made plays for starters ahead of in-season MLB trade deadline in the past. That included acquiring Justin Verlander last season.
There are a number of veteran starters who could make sense for the Astros. That includes Cal Quantrill, Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Aaron Civale and Garrett Crochet.
Read more: 12 MLB trade candidates this summer