Astros Trade Lance McCullers Jr. in Surprising Deadline Move

Houston make their first move ahead of the trade deadline, sending a long-tenured pitcher to the National League.

Dana Brown and Joe Espada | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Houston Astros have some questions hanging over the front office in terms of the trade deadline on August 3. They will begin the second half of the season hosting the Baltimore Orioles, three games out of first place in the American League West Division and 1.5 games back of the final AL wild-card berth.

General manager Dana Brown made it known last week when the Astros were in Washington to play the Nationals that the focus was on making the playoffs, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic (subscription required).

As far as other moves go, it remains to be seen what Brown does, but on Wednesday, he began making some moves, trading starting pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Astros Trade Pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr To the Brewers

Lance McCullers Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was first to report that Houston is sending McCullers Jr. to Milwaukee, while Jon Heyman of the New York Post also reported that the Astros are sending left-handed pitcher Colton Gordon as well.

McCullers Jr. is in the final year of a five-year, $85 million contract and is a deadline move for the Brewers to add depth to their rotation with an eye toward the postseason.

McCullers Jr. has been on the injured list since mid-May with right shoulder inflammation. In eight starts, he had a 6.68 ERA over 39.1 innings, but the Brewers are banking on a change of scenery helping him to turn things around over the final two-plus months of the regular season.

McCullers Jr. has been rehabbing his injury leading into the All-Star break and the returns have been promising, which led to this deal going down. He does have a no-trade clause that he needed to waive to get the deal over the finish line.

Houston is trending toward getting healthier on the mound with some injured pitchers, along with McCullers Jr., working their way back, which makes Brown making this trade easier to do. McCullers Jr.'s departure means that Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are the final two members of the 2017 World Series Championship team remaining in an Astros uniform. Correa left before coming back last season, but is now injured with an ankle injury.

This is the first of what should be an active next couple of weeks for the Astros in terms of making moves by the trade deadline. They could use an outfielder and another bullpen arm to put themselves in a position to try and grab a playoff berth.