Houston Astros Miss Out on Obvious Waiver Claim

The Houston Astros did not claim a player off of waivers on Thursday, but they watched as one of their American League West rivals got a little better.

The Astros enter Friday’s action with the New York Yankees in a tie with the Seattle Mariners. The Texas Rangers are one game back.

The Mariners grabbed Angels reliever Dominic Leone. He started his career with Seattle in 2014 and went 8-2 in 57 games as a reliever. He was with the Rangers in Spring Training and went to the minors. After that, he was with the New York Mets and the Angels.

Now, he’ll be in the middle of the best division race in baseball, as the Astros, Mariners and Rangers are separated by a single game in the standings.

Most of the bullpen help the Astros could have picked up was gone by the time their chance to make a claim came up. More than 10 Major League veterans hit the waiver wire on Thursday, with teams allowed to make claims based on current reverse order.

The Cleveland Guardians — who are six games under-.500 and chasing the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central — went all-in on pitching. They picked up Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Matt Moore off waivers from the Angels.

The Astros know Moore well from the last two seasons, as he spent 2022 with the Rangers. He’s emerged as one of the top veteran left-handed relievers in baseball. Lopez has resurrected his season since joining the Angels in late July in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.

The Cincinnati Reds picked up two players — New York Yankees outfielder Harrison Bader and Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

But acquiring some bullpen help would have been useful for the Astros’ over-taxed bullpen.

Six different Astros relievers have at least 50 appearances this season — Bryan Abreu, Hector Neris, Ryan Pressly, Phil Maton, Rafael Montero and Ryne Stanek. Maton just returned from the injured list.

Now, if the Astros want bullpen help, it will have to come from within.

But, Houston can still add some veteran talent — but it needs some help to make that happen before the Sept. 1 postseason roster deadline.

At least three players cleared waivers on Thursday — Angels outfielder Randall Grichuk, Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco and White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger.

They now revert back to their teams unless they are designated to a minor league affiliate, at which time the player could elect for free agency.

In that case, the Astros — or any other MLB team — would not have to pick up the remainder of that player’s current contract and can sign them to a new deal. It’s likely that Grichuk, Carrasco and Clevinger cleared waivers because no one was willing to take on the remainder of their salaries.

The Astros are coming off a sweep of the Boston Red Sox entering Friday’s opener with the Yankees.