Despite the terrible start to the 2024 season, it's clear the Houston Astros are trying to avoid becoming sellers at the trade deadline.
So does that mean they still expect to contend? If so, they should work on their starting rotation, but it's going to be a miserable few weeks.
The Chicago White Sox are expected to trade away all of their most valuable players at the deadline, which means acquiring Eric Fedde.
Fede has had an interesting career. Throughout his first six seasons with the Washington Nationals, he was okay at best. His top season was 2019, when he posted a 4.50 ERA in mixed starting rotation and bullpen duty.
After becoming a free agent, the Las Vegas native transferred to the Korean Baseball Association, where he reigned supreme.
He played in 26 games, posted an ERA of 2.00 and a WHIP of 0.954, aiming to win the MVP award.
Now, he returns to the majors with newfound confidence and is enjoying his best season on American soil.
The 31-year-old owns a 3.46 ERA and has career highs in WHIP, FIP, K/9 and BB/9. The introduction of the splitter and less reliance on the four-seamer completely changed his MLB game. He will attract a lot of interest at the deadline, and for good reason.
Not only does Houston have a number of health issues throughout their starting rotation, but most of the players remaining on the mound are underperforming.
They could desperately use some help in place of Spencer Arrigetti and Hunter Brown in the rotation, but they can't rely on injured arms staying healthy and coming back for the rest of the season.
Since Fedde is under contract through next season, he should be one of the players with a fairer trade value among the best starting pitchers on the market.
