The Astros 2026: WWJLD?

Since Astros fans are in the blame game right now regarding Dana Brown and to a lesser (or larger) degree Joe Espada it is natural to ask WWJLD. What Would Jeff Luhnow Do? And maybe for some it is WWAJHD – What Would A.J. Hinch Do?

But I write this sucker, so I get to choose the acronym and today it is WWJLD?

And I am not sure of the answer.

Over the golden seasons there was usually a consensus about what the team should do and often the GM in charge did just that.

In 2017 it felt like the team needed a pitching stud to join the rotation and voila in came Justin Verlander. In 2019, they were worried about having a reliable 3^rd starter behind Verlander and Gerrit Cole which resulted in the blockbuster trade for Zack Greinke. Near the 2021 deadline they were short on relief pitching so they brought in Kendall Graveman, Yimi Garcia, Rafael Montero and Phil Maton (with Yainer Diaz). In 2022 they wanted some bullpen help (Will Smith) and a veteran bat (Trey Mancini).

Not saying these always worked but it seemed that there was a limited area to shore up on the team.

But this is 2026 and we’re not in 2017 any more Toto.

Do we patch the Titanic or do we help the orchestra rearrange the deck chairs?

WWJLD?

• Would Jeff try to shore up the pitching? And with what? If they were to go after a top of the line pitcher, what part of their team would they send out? Yordan Alvarez and a couple prospects?
• Would he say – hold on a bit – wait for Hunter Brown to come back, wait for Mike Burrows to become more consistent, wait for Tatsuya Imai to have an emotional awakening?
• Would Luhnow beat the bushes for outfielders that can whack it and trade away “prospects” that he sees as flawed, but hopes others see as flawless?
• Would he trade away someone like Diaz who may never be what he promised?
• Would he rebuild the bullpen from within or without?
• Would he stay the course thinking that this team will be much better in 2027 even if they don’t have a great 2026?
• Or would he pull the plug on 2026 and possibly 2027 and start trading off pieces like Yordan Alvarez, and Jeremy Pena for future gold in a pile of prospects?

I can be mad at Jim Crane and Dana Brown for getting us in this mess, but are there actually moves that must be made and that are sure-fire positive moves?