It doesn’t take a rocket scientist in Houston to figure out the Houston Astros are sellers. Next year? Probably also sellers. On the same level of the Miami Marlins, Houston is admittedly and obviously in a rebuilding period.
There is no grey area they do not intend to contend in 2013 and so therefore playing on other team’s desires to do exactly that can benefit them over the next couple of weeks.
Houston is forming a core and starting to commit to it as evidenced by the recent long-term deal for its star second baseman, Jose Altuve, with the Astros buying out most of his arbitration years.
The team is off to the right start, with: Altuve, catcher Jason Castro, starter Jordan Lyles and guys like Brett Wallace and Matt Dominguez already on the major league roster and contributing.
Not far behind is what has become one of the better farm systems in baseball from a rash of trades over the past few years. Here are five additional trades which can help the Astros stockpile enough talent to build a contender in a few seasons.
