Jim Crane may have quietly saved the Astros from a deadline move that could have cut deeper than it first looked.
Houston’s 2026 trade deadline mostly came and went without much noise, but one deal in particular stood out: the Astros sent Spencer Arrighetti to the Toronto Blue Jays for Daulton Varsho. Dana Brown had been chasing an impact left-handed hitting outfielder for years, and Varsho fit the bill - even if he appeared to be Brown’s second choice.
What nearly happened, though, was different. Brown was also prepared to send Bryan Abreu to the Minnesota Twins for Trevor Larnach.
Larnach would have given Houston the better left-handed bat, but because he profiles strictly as a left fielder, he would have been a poorer fit than Varsho. Crane stepped in and vetoed that move, keeping Abreu in Houston.
Owner involvement is never the cleanest way for a baseball operation to work, but in this case the decision may have spared the Astros from creating another hole. Abreu’s season opened in ugly fashion.
Through the first month, the 29-year-old carried a 12.54 ERA, walked 15 hitters and gave up four home runs in only 9 1/3 innings. For a reliever who had been one of the sport’s most dominant arms in recent years, it was a stunning collapse.
Abreu knew he had to change something. He altered his slider grip, leaned on the slider more than his fastball and even brought back the high-socks look he hadn’t worn in years.
“We can’t fix the past, but we can change the future,” Abreu said via Chandler Rome of The Athletic. “Everything that I’ve been doing was in the wrong direction, so we have to make something different so the future can come in the best way.”
Since then, the turnaround has been real. Over his last 11 appearances, Abreu hasn’t allowed a run and has struck out 37.5% of the batters he’s faced.
The bounce-back actually started earlier than that, though. Since May 1, he has thrown 32 2/3 innings with a 1.93 ERA, a 30.2% strikeout rate and a .162 batting average against.
In that stretch, he has allowed just three homers and 15 walks.
That matters because Houston’s bullpen has been a major reason for the team’s recent push. Trading Abreu would have weakened one of the roster’s strengths in order to address a need that was real, but not urgent. The Astros may lose him to free agency after the season, but for now they are trying to win in 2026, and they are plainly better with him than without him.
Brown’s bigger problem is the one that keeps showing up: in his search for a left-handed-hitting outfielder, he was willing to chip away at the pitching staff to get there. The Arrighetti-for-Varsho move already cost Houston rotation depth. Had the Abreu-for-Larnach deal gone through, the bullpen loss would have been even more damaging.
There’s an argument that Brown was trying to preserve the few pieces Houston has for the future, especially if he won’t be the one steering the ship much longer. But he also came close to making a move that could have hurt the club’s chances of getting back to the playoffs this year. Crane’s intervention may have prevented that - and it also says plenty about how much trust the owner has in his embattled general manager.
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