Conventional wisdom up until now was that the Houston Astros were going to attempt to land an impact starting pitcher or a left-handed hitting infielder at the trade deadline, but probably not both. Houston's needs were relatively well defined, but neither option felt so damning to warrant prioritization over the other. However, the latest injury update on Isaac Paredes may change the front office's decision-making a bit, and bring a new trade target into focus.
There is no denying that the Astros' growing list of injured players has has impacted Houston's on-field performance. Paredes, Jeremy Peña, and Jake Meyers, have all been the Astros' best offensive players in this season and all of them are injured.