Astros Blow It At Trade Deadline

[eagle eye]

A few days ago, I made a plea here on Facebook, to Astros owner Jim Crane to open the purse strings and make a deal to better his team heading into the stretch run of the season. I thought that after the end of the Trade Deadline on June 30 that Mr Crane had been hanging out with Jerry Jones. The Trade Deadline is sort of like NFL free agency and neither the Astros or Cowboys did squat to help their teams when they had the chance.
Jim Crane didn't spent much dinero in acquiring a starting pitcher and a reliever. That's it. Yeah, total thud, right? A deal for Vlad Guerrero never materialized so an upgrade at 1st base never materialized either. The deal with the Yankees resulted in acquiring a so-so reliever for an Astros prospect in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Not a bad deal for Houston.
The deal for starter Yusei Kikuchi with Toronto, according to the MLB 'experts', was a definite win for the Blue Jays and a definite loss for the Astros. Why? Well, Houston gets a starting pitcher with a career 4.61 ERA and, so far in 2024, he's recorded an ERA of 4.75 with a 4-9 record in 22 games. According to the scouting report, Kikuchi has a mid 90's fastball that can reach 99 mph, he has a plus slider and he has a decent changeup and curve ball. He's had just one winning season in the majors, 2023, since he broke into the league in 2019. Plus pitches and he's had sup par results. Not good. Kikuchi can eat up innings and he'll help until Justin Verlander gets back off IL but, from my point of view, Jim Crane went totally bargain basement for this guy. What the experts say makes this a total win for Toronto is what they forced Houston to give up. The Astros have sent P Jake Bloss, OF Joey Loperfido and minor league prospect Will Wagner to Toronto. Bloss and Loperfido were already contributing for the Astros with Loperfido looking spectacular in the outfield. Both Bloss and Loperfido made their major league debuts this season and, again, the experts feel the Astros had only scratched the surface of the their potential. Hence, the opinion the Astros got fleeced in the deal.
The Astros will get some help soon with Verlander and Kyle Tucker coming back. Tucker's injury is confusing why it's taking so long to return from a knock on his shin. He's been out since June 3rd. The why he is not back yet is very confusing. I'm going to make the promise good that I made a few days ago to Jim Crane. 
Hey Jim, Yo Mama!