Astros get exciting trade rumor on Tarik Skubal that's very unexpected

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The Houston Astros have not been viewed as a club looking to be a trade deadline buyer for much of the 2026 season. For the most part, the Astros have been tabbed as a seller.

Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker, Bryan Abreu, Josh Hader, and even Yordan Alvarez have been named in trade rumors this season. But, instead of winding up as sellers, a recent rumor might have the Astros as the biggest buyer of all this summer.

As USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports, the Astros are reportedly planning to be involved in the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes at this year's deadline. Instead of selling, Houston might land the biggest fish possible at the MLB trade deadline.

Astros plan to pursue Tarik Skubal trade

"The Houston Astros, badly needing an outfielder, are showing strong interest in Mickey Moniak and Jake McCarthy of the Colorado Rockies," Nightengale reports. "They also plan to be in the Tarik Skubal and Sonny Gray sweepstakes."

While the reports on Moniak, McCarthy, and Gray are interesting, the mention of the Astros being involved in the Skubal market is, by far, the most intriguing.

Skubal is the most important player at this year's deadline, as the 3.15 ERA Detroit Tigers ace is a back-to-back Cy Young winner, and the top trade target this season by a wide margin.

Rarely does a pitcher of Skubal's talent become available for trade, but with the Tigers failing this season, many teams around baseball are showing interest in Skubal.

MORE: 3 reasons why Braves are perfect fit for Tarik Skubal at MLB trade deadline

But the Astros, a team often talked about as a seller, are now seemingly all of a sudden a legitimate possibility for Skubal at the 2026 trade deadline.

While their farm system isn't the strongest, they could pool from their MLB roster or use most of their top prospects to land Skubal.

Such a move will cost a lot, but if the Astros believe this team has a legitimate chance to win the World Series, then trading for Skubal wouldn't be a bad idea.

Sitting at 44-47, and 2.0 games back in the AL Wild Card, the Astros have some work to do between July 5 and the MLB trade deadline on August 3 to actually have reason to pursue Skubal.

Regardless, this report from Nightengale, which has the Astros' deadline plans involving a pursuit of Skubal, is very exciting and very unexpected. This could be a much more fun deadline than anticipated for the Astros, as they're now a suitor for Skubal this summer.