The Houston Astros are a winning machine, plain and simple.
To see the Astros at the top of the American League West standings is no surprise, but it can be startling to see the names on the bottom half of their lineup card on most nights.
Taylor Trammell, Zack Short, and Cooper Hummel aren't exactly Murderer's Row. Houston will get Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña back eventually, but they still lack the thump of Astros championship teams past.
With one more outfield bat at the trade deadline, the Astros might be able to assert themselves as American League favorites. And CBS Sports' Mike Axisa believes he knows who that bat will be.
On Wednesday, Axisa predicted that the Astros would land Los Angeles Angels left fielder Taylor Ward, who has 23 home runs this season, in a trade before the Jul. 31 deadline.
"(The Astros have) handled rookie Cam Smith's on-the-fly transition from third base to right field about as well as possible, and Jake Meyers was having a career year in center before his recent calf injury. Left field has been a revolving door though," Axisa wrote. "Ward, with his Crawford Boxes-friendly pull righty power, would lengthen the lineup nicely.
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"Would the Angels trade him within the division, especially when they're close enough to the third wild-card spot to think they're in the race? The bet here is yes, as unlikely as it may seem."
Ward, 31, is under contract for the 2026 season as well, so he'd be more than just a pure rental. His .305 on-base percentage isn't necessarily ideal, but it's been spiking of late, and home runs can be huge separators, especially in a righty-friendly Daikin Park.
The Astros might be one Taylor Ward away from another World Series appearance, and the good news is Taylor Wards aren't usually overly expensive to trade for.
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