Doubling down on the reports from Monday that the Astros were willing to move starting pitching, Brian McTaggart tweets out the following trade winds update:
Astros getting increased calls about pitching today after they said Monday they'd be willing to move a starter. Goal remains: add offense.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 29, 2014
Looking at the trade market heading into Thursday's deadline, this makes plenty of sense. When Jon Lester, a mid-season rental, might fetch Josh Bell from the Pirates and with David Price and Cole Hamels both prohibitively expensive, the next tier of pitchers will see their prices raised a step below this.
That means it can only help Houston to look into deals involving its starters, especially if a young bat can be added to the lineup. Two potential suitors who have already been mentioned could be Kansas City and Toronto, both of whom are on the fringes of the Wild Card race and could look to bolster their rotations.
Monday evening, Luhnow told Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle that there was a "50 percent" chance that the Astros would swing a trade at the deadline. As Drellich noted, that was down from the nearly 80 percent it has lived at the past two deadlines.
One player who hasn't drawn more discussion in the last 24 hours is Tony Sipp. Supposed suitor Washington may have turned its attention to Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre and could be holding off on a Sipp addition until those talks are finished.