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New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Five key Astros trade deadline questions: Do they have enough to make a deal?
Houston Astros GM Dana Brown's list of areas to address at the trade deadline seems to expand by the day as injuries mount. With the Seattle Mariners lingering and the Texas Rangers narrowing their deficit behind Houston from 11 games to four in the past few weeks, Brown's need to supplement the roster has grown even more urgent. Advertisement To discuss the deadline and set up a crucial week for the club, Astros beat writer Chandler Rome hosted a live Q&A with The Athletic subscribers on Monday afternoon. Here are five key questions (plus a bonus one) that were asked and answered during the chat. For more deadline coverage, read the full Q&A transcript, visit our Yankees section for new stories, or check out our live blog for the latest all week long. 1. What were the comments coming out of the organization yesterday following the sweep by the A's? Did the performance over that series change anything that the team was planning/looking into? — Robert G. One thing that I don't think fans or the general public realize is how players, coaches and executives don't really wear the results of a game or weekend. The clubhouse wasn't jovial after any of the four losses, but no one was throwing chairs or calling team meetings, either. This is such a long season that guys will drive themselves crazy if they get caught up in the results from one weekend or series. That said, the proximity to the deadline did add some intrigue to this weekend. Getting swept by the A's didn't change the Astros' deadline priorities — it just underscored what they are. 2. How real is the possibility that the Astros actually can't make a trade due to a lack of organizational depth and/or the need for the current second-tier players to round out the roster? — Lance S. The Astros can make trades. Their farm system lacks top-end talent, but there is enough for them to make trades with any seller out there — it'll just hurt them far more than it would hurt a team with a deeper system. You hit on a more pertinent question, though: Are any of these available players really worth mortgaging what little they do have? The quality of players known to be available is not great, certainly not anyone who will transform the trajectory of an entire season. The Astros' best acquisitions will be from their own injured list. That, however, won't stop them from making trades. 3. I believe you recently reported that Dana Brown had shifted his trade priorities to bats. Did Brandon Walter's injury change this again? — Michael S. No. The Astros are still prioritizing offense. Walter had been a godsend for Houston's injury-depleted rotation, but the impending returns of J.P. France, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier and Spencer Arrighetti will help to offset his loss. Javier and Arrighetti could each be back after their next minor-league rehab start. France isn't far behind, either. The Astros are still searching for a right-handed leverage reliever and — if they find the right deal — wouldn't turn down a starting pitching upgrade. But, make no mistake, offense remains the focus. 4. What are the top position players you are hearing we are targeting? And is it possible to get them without giving up MLB-level players (not counting Hummel or Zack Short)? — Kyle E. The Astros have checked in on basically every position player available, Kyle. Willi Castro is someone they like. They've talked about Eugenio Suárez. Many others are being discussed, too. As far as what they'd need to give up, it really depends on what the trading team needs. Arizona has gotten three pitchers in exchange for the two players it has already traded and will be looking for more. 5. I feel like one trade won't make the Astros legit WS contenders with so many issues this season. I feel like Dana Brown should be realistic and consider trading Framber Valdez. He immediately becomes the best pitcher available and should bring the Astros some high-level prospects on offense to help them going forward. Thoughts? — Bradley R. I could yell and scream, but I'll try to offer a different perspective on this. Think about the members of that Astros clubhouse who watched the front office trade their best player this winter, allow the clubhouse's leader to sign with an AL rival and then absorb 18 injuries once the season began. They've grinded and battled to get to 14 games above .500 and build a four-game AL West lead. According to FanGraphs, they have 87.3 percent odds of reaching the postseason. Advertisement What message is being sent to them by trading Valdez? Thank you for your service, but we really wanted to make the Corpus Christi Hooks better this season. That is the easiest way to lose an entire clubhouse and watch a season unravel. Given the way injuries and return from injuries have been handled the past few seasons (Kyle Tucker, Garcia, Yordan Alvarez, etc.), what is the likelihood that there is an overhaul of the training and medical staff in the offseason? — Robert G. It has reached a point where the Astros are going to have to examine things this winter, Robert. I'm not sure what that will entail, but what has happened in Houston the last 24 months is not normal. (Top photo of Joe Espada and Dana Brown: Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Issac Paredes injury update sparks Astros to check in on NL West power hitter
The MLB trade deadline is days away, and teams will be looking to make deals that can push them into the postseason and improve their chances of winning a World Series in 2025. One team looking to bolster their squad are the Houston Astros. Moreover, they have a major hole at third base with the injury to Issac Paredes and the Astros aren't optimistic that they'll have the Mexican player soon. Speaking on the team's pregame show with SportsTalk790, Astros general manager Dana Brown said Ronel Paredes' hamstring injury is 'a little more severe than we initially thought.' Brown added that Paredes will be seeking a second opinion from doctors. With this in mind, The Athletic's Chandler Rome reports that Houston are at least doing its due diligence with Eugenio Suárez as the Arizona Diamondbacks veteran appears to be the marquee player on the trade market this deadline. 'Suárez is the most straightforward way to address Paredes' potential season-long absence and, according to multiple league sources, the Astros have at least checked in with the Arizona Diamondbacks to make their interest known,' Rome wrote. 'Whether Houston has enough prospect capital to compete with Suárez's slew of other suitors is a legitimate question.' MORE:Astros receive discouraging injury update on All-Star infielder While most contending teams would welcome Suárez's 36 home runs and 87 RBI so far this season into their starting lineup, Rome questions whether it's the right fit since the Astros already have several right-handed hitters and lack left-handed ones. 'Another is perhaps more pertinent: Is Suárez even an ideal fit for the Astros' roster?' Rome added. 'Brown has not hidden the fact that he is searching for a left-handed bat, a stance he reiterated Sunday. Suárez hits right-handed and is strikeout-prone, problematic for an offense that — at full strength — has no balance and prides itself on putting the ball in play.' Houston have a few days to figure out their third base situation and whether or not they can add another left-handed bat into their lineup.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Google Brings Clarity To An Ad Space Long Blurred By Wine And Guesses
PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 08: In this photo illustration, Google app logos, Drive, YouTube, Gmail, ... More Chrome, Google and Google Maps are displayed on the screen of an iPhone on June 08, 2023 in Paris, France. Users of the Google Chrome search engine are advised to update the software on their web browser as soon as possible to ensure their security. The American giant has just released a security update to correct a computer flaw representing a high risk for Internet users. This is the third time since the beginning of the year that Google has spotted a "zero day" flaw, that is to say, a computer flaw not directly resolved, a favorite prey of hackers.(Photo illustration) 'We could sell you a page of advertising for $100,000, tell you it was going to reach a lot of influential and wealthy people, take you out to dinner, dangle an invite to the Oscar party, order expensive wine, get you drunk, and hope you forgot to ask any questions.' Those are the words of Dana Brown, former Deputy Editor of Vanity Fair, from his 2022 autobiography, Dilettante. Brown described how advertising used to be, and how in the dark occasionally overserved ad buyers once were. Ad purchases from editors who 'weren't data people' set the stage for change. It's capitalism's greatest feature: competing away high margins. It rates serious thought as the Department of Justice (DOJ) inches toward the conclusion of its antitrust case against Google. The lawsuit was instigated by Google's supposed 'monopoly' over search, along with its alleged failure to provide advertisers with 'transparency.' It's a look backwards, in concert with a failure to understand just how much Google has vastly enhanced transparency and sales for advertisers. The speculation here is that Brown would agree. All it takes to understand this is to compare search results on Google from July 25, 2022 to July 25, 2025. What users see based on any search or question is profoundly different. The difference is an effect of intense competition within the search space, and particularly the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The release of ChatGPT and a myriad of other AI-trained search locales since very much calls into question the DOJ's case. If Google had a monopoly on search, it would reflect in a lack of search-result evolution at Google. Why compete when you're a monopoly? Why indeed. Also, why invest in an uncertain AI future to the tune of $85 billion (the amount Google's parent, Alphabet, is investing in AI in 2025 alone) if your future is already secure; the future born of your control of the present and future? In the words of DOJ attorney David Dahlquist, 'This court has an opportunity to remedy a monopoly that has controlled the internet for today's generation and restore competition for decades to come.' Except that there's no monopoly. See the profound evolution of search results on the alleged monopoly offender in Google. Then see Alphabet's substantial investment in the very technology that promises to render search results from today unrecognizable relative to the future. Or see yet again Dana Brown's memoirs. While the Brown quote that opened this opinion piece has already vivified just how in-the-dark ad buyers used to be, there's more to know. Brown's memoirs explain why the old ways of ad sales were rendered obsolete. Google and Facebook loom large. In Brown's words, Facebook and Google 'were able to target advertising at very specific demographics and then show advertisers actual figures of who saw the ad, who clicked on it, and who made a purchase.' Contrast the above with the days when ad buyers were plied with alcohol so that they wouldn't ask difficult questions from people who probably couldn't answer them to begin with. Not so with Google and Facebook. As Brown recalls, 'They were data-driven businesses.' Yet the DOJ claims Google hasn't been transparent enough with buyers? More realistically, its success is an effect of bringing transparency and data to purchases that were formerly a speculation. Which is just a comment that the DOJ isn't just looking backwards with its lawsuit, it also looking into the past without understanding just how substantially Google has improved the present and future by ending for good the opaque nature of ad-buying from the past.
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Astros' Brice Matthews is ‘not a finished product.' He still produced the game of his life
PHOENIX — Ten days ago, caution contradicted a celebration at Daikin Park, where one of Houston's own arrived to actualize a dream. A horde of cameras and curious reporters followed his every move. Family members gathered on the warning track to watch their boy become a big leaguer. Before Brice Matthews began the journey, his bosses preached patience. Manager Joe Espada emphasized Matthews 'is not a finished product,' candor that could've cast a pall on a prolific day, but crystallized this complex circumstance. Advertisement The Houston Astros had twice passed Matthews over for a promotion during the previous week, spooked by both his swing-and-miss and suspect defense at second base. Neither trait improved in the interim, but injuries left general manager Dana Brown and his lieutenants with little choice other than calling Matthews up on July 11. 'Sometimes,' Brown acknowledged two days later, 'you have to go get guys a little earlier than you would've liked.' 'But, make no mistake, he's got the makeup and the talent to overcome it.' In an ideal world, Matthews would've spent Monday night somewhere between Sugar Land and El Paso, preparing for a Triple-A series with nonexistent stakes while shoring up his deficiencies. Desperation instead brought him to the big leagues, where Matthews offered the latest lift for a substitute-laden lineup in constant search of someone to step up. Matthews mashed the first two home runs of his major-league career, chasing home five of the six runs Houston scored during a 6-3 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. 'Player development doesn't end at the major-league level,' Espada said afterward. 'It continues at the major-league level. … We can continue that process here, but he's open-minded. He's coachable. He's tough. You need to have those ingredients to be able to finish yourself here at the major-league level.' Matthews became a bona fide big leaguer on Friday, willing a seeing-eye single through the six-hole during a 6-1 loss in Seattle. The first major-league hit lifts a weight from any rookie's shoulders, but Matthews may have carried a heavier one than most. Few prospects have debuted during a more difficult circumstance. Matthews arrived amid a three-game losing streak and with outsized fanfare given he grew up in the Houston suburb of Atascocita. Matthews is an alumnus of the Astros Youth Academy, too — the first to ever reach the major leagues for any team, much less the Astros themselves. Matthews' first major-league at-bat featured four fastballs from Texas Rangers fireballer Jack Leiter. None arrived slower than 97.9 mph. Matthews swung through two of them before watching 99.7 mph putaway pitch paint his inner-half. Jack Leiter 💯 — Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 12, 2025 Matthews struck out four more times across his next six at-bats, but expecting anything less felt foolish. After seeing Leiter, Matthews faced Jacob deGrom and Luis Castillo during his next two starts. The two pitchers have eight All-Star appearances between them and deGrom wields some of the sport's nastiest stuff. Advertisement 'Shellshocked a little bit, but I wouldn't have it any other way,' Matthews said. 'To see what I'm up against and how I need to prepare each and every day and to trust my preparation. It's been good seeing the adjustments I've been able to make and the talks I've had with my teammates and how they've helped me get better and prepare a little bit differently.' Much of what Matthews lacks on the field is balanced by makeup that has long impressed team officials. Veteran infielder Zack Short — one of the players Houston promoted over Matthews earlier this month — described a 23-year-old with 'mentals (that) are way off the chart.' 'He kind of got punched early this year in April and May and he came out of that stretch like a madman. Determined. He didn't waver,' Short said. 'He, honestly, helped me out a bunch just kind of taking it for what it is and not trying to take it home or take it into another at-bat. That's what's way more impressive than how athletic he is or hitting two homers.' Mental fortitude is fantastic, but for Matthews to make the next step in his development, a more disciplined offensive approach is mandatory. So is generating more contact. At Triple-A, Matthews paired a 30.2 percent strikeout rate with a 66.6 percent contact rate. Only six qualified major-league hitters have a lower contact rate than what Matthews authored at Triple-A Sugar Land. Any contact Matthews does make is loud. Seven of the nine balls he's put in play as a big leaguer have exited his bat at 98.9 mph or harder. Doing that more would be advantageous. 'He's a strong kid, it's just getting direction and getting the pitches he knows he can drive, stay away from chasing, let the pitchers come to you,' Espada said. 'If you do that, you're going to find yourself in a position to get some good swings out there.' Advertisement Matthews has a discerning eye — he walked 50 times in 73 Triple-A games — but acknowledged he must be more selective with his swing decisions. Teammates and coaches have encouraged him to shrink his zone and focus on certain quadrants as opposed to becoming a free swinger, but some of the advice isn't even physical. 'Just breathing more, honestly,' Matthews said. 'Taking more deep breaths. Being present, being where my feet are and knowing the guys to my left and right have my back.' Matthews is correct: he does not need to carry Houston's lineup, even though he attempted to on Monday. Both of his home runs came against Arizona's perennial Cy Young Award contender Zac Gallen — a popular name as the trade deadline nears. Because he is the best prospect in an otherwise fallow farm system, Matthews' name will also circulate during the next 10 days before the deadline. That he is Brown's first draft pick as a general manager can't be overlooked. Attachment and allegiance are real, but this is a franchise that has long prioritized pennants over prospects. Brown will maintain that philosophy across the next week and a half. What he must consider, though, is the long-term ramifications of including Matthews in any potential deal. Jose Altuve's transition to left field leaves second base in question. Matthews is the internal heir apparent at the position. Performances like Monday may ensure Matthews will have a chance to seize the job next spring. This season, if or when Houston's roster returns to full strength, Matthews will not have a defined role. A demotion back to Triple-A Sugar Land is almost guaranteed, unless he can author more performances like Monday's. 'I kinda felt like I was just galloping around the bases,' Matthews said of his first home run. 'I didn't know really what to do. Salute the bullpen and try to be as normal as possible, honestly. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully I can do it a little bit more.'
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB insider expects Astros to be aggressive at trade deadline
The Houston Astros have one of the weaker farm systems in baseball, especially for a team sitting atop their division. But, despite their weaker farm system, the Astros and general manager Dana Brown can still make moves at the deadline. And during an appearance on Foul Territory, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal believes the Astros, despite their weaker prospects, will be involved at the deadline. Rosenthal had a firm stance that the Astros would be aggressive at the deadline. "I do think they will be aggressive," Rosenthal said. "The one thing they have also needed and have talked about is a second baseman, preferably a left-handed hitting second baseman. If the Rays go over the next ten days, maybe they make Brandon Lowe available... I do expect them to be aggressive." Houston has a couple of areas it could look to improve. A left-handed hitting batter has been one mentioned often as a potential fit for the Astros. With Yordan Alvarez out, there is a severe lack of left-handed hitters in the lineup. While Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe, who'd fill the lefty hitter and second base needs, would be an ideal pickup, the odds aren't great. The Rays are in solid shape to contend, just 1.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the Wild Card spot. MORE: Astros writer reveals 'ideal outcome' at MLB trade deadline But if he were to be available, as Rosenthal says, Lowe would be a great option. Outside of second base and a lefty hitter, the Astros could also use a left fielder and another starting pitcher, ideally one who'd take over as the team's number three starter. Being aggressive at the trade deadline could be more challenging for the Astros than for other teams. A weaker farm system could lead the Astros to get creative at the deadline, especially if Rosenthal's expectation for the team to be aggressive comes true. Sitting atop the AL West, the Astros should take this chance to bolster their roster. If every player can get healthy, and they can add a few of the positions of need, the Astros could be one of the top teams in the league and contend for a World Series in 2025. MORE MLB NEWS: Padres' A.J. Preller predicted to 'aim high' at MLB trade deadline Padres linked to MLB insiders' 'least valuable player' at trade deadline Guardians trade negotiations 'frustrating' MLB teams ahead of deadline Tigers 'likely' to add a high-leverage reliever at trade deadline Trio of Cardinals relievers most likely to be moved at MLB trade deadline Tigers 'strongly interested' in pair of Twins righty relievers
