The Houston Astros may not be headed into the trade deadline as sellers after all, and one of the clearest signs is what’s happening with Josh Hader.
Despite sitting at 47-50 entering the final day before the MLB All-Star break, Houston is still hanging around in a weak AL West, where it is just 2.0 games back. The Astros are also 0.5 games back in the wild card race, which keeps the door open for a very different kind of deadline than many expected earlier in the season. Left-handed hitting outfielders are their top need, and the club could wind up in buy mode instead of unloading pieces.
That includes Hader, the $95 million lefty closer who had been floated as a possible trade chip. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Houston is not making him available.
“Hader, who is in the third year of a five-year, $95 million contract, is not available in trade talks,” Nightengale writes.
That lines up with the way the Astros are positioned right now. Even with a sub-.500 record, they’re close enough to a postseason spot that the August 3 trade deadline could be more about adding than subtracting. And if Houston does move anyone, it won’t be someone as central as Hader.
The numbers tell the story of just how important he’s been this season: a 0.59 ERA, 1.0 bWAR, a 3-0 record, 10 saves, 16 outings and 15.1 innings. Nightengale’s report makes it clear the five-time All-Star is not headed anywhere.
What stands out, too, is that Nightengale isn’t even saying the Astros will listen on Hader the way they did with Michael Wacha of the Kansas City Royals. Houston isn’t planning to trade him this summer, and for now, Hader looks set to stay put through the end of the season.
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