Houston Astros trade rumors: GM on the lookout for a good arm, left-handed bat and others

With the 2023 MLB draft and All-Star game completed, the Houston Astros are eyeing reinforcements before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Astros general manager Dana Brown seems to have an idea of the targets that he plans to acquire in the next few weeks. On "The Sean Salisbury Show," he hinted at the organization's plans:

"I’ll take a starter at the deadline if there’s one available that we matched up with. If you don’t get good starts, you go home. With the pitchers that we’ve had going down, it could put us in a situation where we come up short or we don’t get to that next round of the playoffs.

"A good arm would be really, really helpful. You can never go wrong with a good arm. A good bat, he may go into a slump or something like that. But a good arm, they usually post (good numbers), and if you could get that, that would be outstanding. The problem is, there are not many good arms out there.”

Brown's comments suggest that the Astros might be eyeing up moves for Marcus Stroman, Lucas Giolito or Jordan Montgomery if they are available before the trade deadline. Kyle Hendricks and Drew Smyly have also been linked with Houston.

The reigning World Series champions will need to conduct their business fast with the trade deadline approaching at the end of the month.

Can the Houston Astros qualify for the MLB playoffs in 2023?

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve

The Houston Astros are second in the AL West with a 50-41 record, only two games behind the Texas Rangers. Dusty Baker's team is still in contention for the postseason but it will need to continue its strong run into the second half of the regular season.

The Astros will be relying heavily on veteran stars like Jose Altuve and Framber Valdez to propel them to the divisional title and into the playoffs. Houston will not want to loosen its grip on the championship.