The Houston Astros are inevitable.
Even after losing Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker to other teams and playing most of this season without Yordan Álvarez, the Astros are tied for the best record in baseball at 60-42.
Now, Houston can turn its attention toward the trade deadline and capturing its third World Series title since 2017.
David Schoenfield of ESPN listed his “deadline dominoes for 10 biggest names on 2025 market” and had the Astros acquiring Baltimore Orioles outfielder/designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn.
Here is what Schoenfield had to say:
“The Astros still hold a six-game lead in the AL West, continuing to play well through a long list of injuries, but general manager Dana Brown has talked about the need to add a left-handed hitter. O'Hearn could play left field for the Astros, who have been using Cooper Hummel, Taylor Trammell and defensive liability Jose Altuve in the outfield lately. Even if the injured Jordan Alvarez makes it back, Altuve could then slide back to second base.”
O’Hearn, 32 this week, is a smooth-swinging, powerful, left-handed bat that would compensate for some of the Alvarez loss. He was named an All-Star earlier this month, and deservedly so.
O’Hearn is batting .281 with an .826 OPS, a 134 OPS+, 12 home runs, 37 RBIs, 3 stolen bases, and a solid 40:56 BB:K ratio.
He is also having one of his better seasons defensively, but it is over a limited sample size. O’Hearn has mostly seen time at first base (37 starts, 308 and 1/3 innings), right field (13 starts, 119 innings), and DH (30 starts).
He has only played 16 innings in left, and those Houston dimensions are no joke to deal with, but his bat more than compensates for any defensive ruffles.
Furthermore, this is an Astros team in dire need of stability at the seven, and adding a player of O’Hearn’s caliber would make them an even greater threat in this wide-open American League.