To be honest, I didn’t have a Lance McCullers Jr. trade on my 2026 bingo card.
I figured the plan with McCullers this season was to shuffle him between the active roster and the IL, thereby limiting his innings. As we saw at various points, in a single game, McCullers could still prove effective as a starter. But, realistically, those starts were sandwiched between a series of less-than-desirable results. On a team with postseason aspirations, a starter with a 6.65 ERA/5.48 FIP in 21 starts since 2025 isn’t going to cut it. Include McCullers’s injury risk, fair or not, when combined with his $17 million annual salary and overall downturn in performance, and you can understand why the Astros chose to trade him.
Of course, McCullers also held a no-trade clause, and you had to find someone willing to absorb some money. And, to his credit, McCullers truly did his part in helping out the Astros when he waived his no-trade clause to make this deal happen.
All said and done, the Astros are netting around $2.5 million, a beneficial sum for a team not exactly flush with money to spend if the plan is to remain below the first tax threshold of $244 million. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, before the trade was announced, Houston was roughly $10.126 million below that mark. If the plan remains to improve the roster in a weak American League, then adding some payroll might be the only viable path for an organization without a highly rated farm system.
Including Colton Gordon was essentially the reason why the Brewers made this trade. Sure, they could obtain some value from McCullers. This is an organization that, along with the Rays, seems to draw the most value out of its pitchers. But from a player development standpoint, Gordon is the reason. Given the five years of club control remaining, it stands to reason that Milwaukee sees something in Gordon, especially if a series of adjustments are made. I’m quite curious to see what changes they implement in the near future.
For the Astros, trading McCullers and Gordon was essentially a salary dump to free up some payroll for additional moves. Yes, Jadyn Fielder (son of Prince Fielder and grandson of Cecil Fielder) came back in the deal, but it was almost entirely about the savings. Dana Brown is in the last year of his contract, with no guarantees beyond September or October, so it makes sense why he is getting creative. It is another question about whether he can find any meaningful upgrades by the trade deadline.
Feature photo from Astros on X
An upgrade over LMJ is not difficult to find. We all love LMJ, but his body can’t give the Astros any meaningful innings. We got some needed money and two spots in the roster. Lance will be back to be honored the way he deserves.