Imai definitely has the stuff. It’s all mental with him. If he figures it out, a top 4 of Brown, Imai, Arrighetti, and Lambert is very solid. 5/6 can be figured out between Burrows, Javier, Teng, Pecko, Gordon, and McPherson.
When the best you can show in return for any of those guys was Singleton (bust), Santana (traded away with Hader for CarGo and the rat Fiers), and Cosart (bust and traded away for Marisnick, Moran, and Frankie Tuesday), the return sucked. The best player we ended up with was Marisnick, a 4th OF.
At the time of the trade, Singleton was Philly's #2 prospect (BA's #39 overall), Cosart was their #4 (#70 overall) and Santana their #9 at 18 years old. It didn't work out, but it was a good trade. eta: almost exactly 1 year later, Philly traded him to the Giants for their #2 prospect (Tommy Joseph), a guy not in SF's top 30 prospects (Seth Rosin), and Nate Schierholtz (who played 37 games for them and left as a FA after the season).
Biggest needs I see for the deadline. -LH hitting OF’er. -ELITE #2/3 Starter -HIGH LEVERAGE BP ARM (if Abreu doesn’t hit his stride by then) 1. PENA SS 2. ALVAREZ DH LH 3. WALKER 1B 4. *OF LH 5. PAREDES 3B 6. ALTUVE 2B 7. VASQUEZ C LH 8. MEYERS CF 9. LOPERFIDO LF LH 10. DIAZ C 11. ALLEN IF 12. TRAMMELL OF LH 13. BEST GOING. C. SMITH, DEZENZO, MATTHEWS, COLE, ETC 1. BROWN 2. *#2 STARTER (prefer LH) 3. ARRIGHETTI 4. & 5. BEST GOING.LAMBERT, JAVIER, IMAI, TENG, MCCULLERS, ETC 6. HADER 7. *TRADE 8. OKERT 9. KING 10. SOUSA 11. BLUBAUGH 12. & 13. BEST TWO ARMS GOING. STARTERS ABOVE, ABREU, SANTA, DE LOS SANTOS, ETC
The fact that the Astros are 6 games under .500 yet are 5-4 in Imai starts when he has an ERA over 6.4.
Stros are 16-10 in Jeremy Pena's starts since he came back from the IL The 2 games he didn't start the Stros lost in 10 innings.
There is little doubt this team needs Pena if they have any chance to win this year. Thats part of the risk of going for it. This team is so top heavy that losing Pena, or Yordan, Hader, Hunter or maybe even Paredes instantly ends any chance. In 2017-2023 they were so deep they could lose guys like Correa, Verlander or Yordan for long stretches or even entire seasons and still make the ALCS.
Ronel Blanco is beginning a rehab assignment at the Spring Training complex today. Walked one and struck out two in a scoreless 1st: https://www.milb.com/gameday/fcl-marlins-vs-fcl-astros/2026/06/19/844332/final/box
Ronel Blanco threw three scoreless innings and allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out five in his first rehab appearance down in Palm Beach.
This could be huge. A healthy Blaco for the last 2 months of the season could really solidify the middle to bottom of the rotation.
11 batters across 3 innings. 5 Ks and 1 BB 1 single and 0 runs. At least 24 pitches they don't track, or at least publish it.
Just have to be hot at the right time to win a WS. Yankees are really the only impressive team in the AL right now. We just have to see how these next 6 weeks go. Unfortunately the only major upgrade out there is Byron Buxton, who you really can't count on staying healthy. The worst thing is for us to buy and miss the playoffs again. If we don't get up over .500, I'm all for selling. Then they have to make the decision on whether to move Brown & Yordan before next season for the true full rebuild (I'd expect that be a more likely offseason move).
Also, neither are always the same pitch, he puts wrinkles into both to where they behave differently.
