Astros respond to Mariners' bombshell with scariest possible trade rumor

The Seattle Mariners may have beaten the Houston Astros to Eugenio Suárez, but you can practically hear the theme from Jaws now that the Astros are circling Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara.

Multiple reports have the Astros in on the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, including Michael Schwab and Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who noted Wednesday night that the Astros have pivoted after failing to gain traction on Dylan Cease:

In a better bit of news for the Mariners, it seems the kibosh can be put on the Astros reuniting with Carlos Correa. Though they have engaged the Minnesota Twins, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Wednesday that "no deal is close."

Sandy Alcantara would be a threat to Mariners in Houston's rotation

Alcantara has had a rough couple of years since his Cy Young-winning season in 2022. He regressed in 2023, missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and has returned with a 6.36 ERA this year.

The 29-year-old righty has notably struggled with walks, with his rate of 3.5 walks per nine innings representing a huge jump on the 2.0 figure he had in 2022. And with 109 innings already on his arm, there is the question of how much gas he has in the tank after sitting out last year.

And yet, Alcantara has been trending well with back-to-back scoreless starts. And there is no doubt that his arm is still a live one, as he's cranking both his sinker and his four-seamer out at over 97 mph on average.

If the Astros were to land Alcantara, he would instantly shore up their rotation depth underneath Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez, giving them potentially a lethal trio to throw at teams in the playoffs. He'd also remain under their control through 2026, with a club option for 2027.

Much would obviously depend on Alcantara pitching better for Houston than he has for Miami, but the Astros would have every reason to feel confident. Lest anyone forget that the Astros are good with pitchers, they have ranked in the top five of the AL for ERA in four of the past five years.

The Astros already lead the Mariners by 5.0 games in the AL West, meaning the M's already have their work cut out for them even after adding Suárez, Josh Naylor, and Caleb Ferguson. The Astros adding Alcantara would naturally complicate the mission, which could further be complicated by Houston getting injury reinforcements such as Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez in August and September.

If there's any hope for the Mariners to cling to, it's that the Astros might be too scared to go over the luxury tax to close a deal for Alcantara. But if that proves not to be the case, the notion that Houston will simply cede the AL West to Seattle will be out the window.