Houston Astros Dealt Two of the Best Prospects Involved in Deadline Deals

The Houston Astros paid a premium price to complete their deals ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline.

Jul 23, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Jake Bloss (39) throws during the first inning against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. | Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

The goal of the Houston Astros ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline was clear; they wanted to shore up their pitching staff.

To do so, they completed two trades; one with the Toronto Blue Jays and another with the New York Yankees.

The deal with the Yankees wasn’t much of a headline grabber, as the Astros acquired left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson. In exchange for the bullpen arm, New York received right-handed pitcher Kelly Austin who is 22, and pitched at the Single-A and High-A levels in the minors this season.

Houston’s deal with the Blue Jays, however, turned some heads.

They acquired starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi in exchange for a package many people believe they were fleeced on.

Heading to Toronto is starting pitcher Jake Bloss, center fielder Joey Loperfido and minor league infielder Will Wagner. Bloss and Loperfido were already contributing at the Major League level, which made this deal more than a head-scratcher.

They aren’t even scratching the surface of their potential, getting their first taste of the big leagues this year. There is a chance the Astros will come to regret this deal, as Bloss and Loperfido were two of the best prospects on the move ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline.

Using the Future Value grades created by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, Houston traded what could very well be two top 100 prospects for a pitcher who has a 4.75 ERA in 22 starts and 115.2 innings pitched.

“Bloss is a wild story, a 22-year-old grad student at Georgetown who was seriously looking into finance jobs but then had a breakout spring, ended up going in the third round last summer and now a year later is on the verge of being a top-100 prospect who has already made his big league debut. Now he can add headlining a deadline day trade to his list of accomplishments in the past year,” McDaniel wrote.

Bloss was the No. 2 prospect traded this year, behind only Aidan Smith, who went from the Seattle Mariners to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Randy Arozarena deal. He came in under the 50 FV tier, which includes prospects ranked roughly 50-120 overall.

Loperfido was in the 45+ FV range, coming in at No. 7 on the list. Players in this tier are ranked roughly 121st-180th.

“Loperfido is a plus runner with plus power that can play all three outfield positions but has some contact-based limitations himself,” McDaniel wrote.

In 39 games and 123 plate appearances, the star prospect has produced a slash line of .234/.295/.351 with two home runs and five doubles. His ability to play all three outfield positions is already a plus asset as he works through his shortcomings at the plate.