The Houston Astros have the second-best record in baseball and the largest division lead in the majors, but ace Dallas Keuchel is highly disappointed the team couldn't do more at the trade deadline.
"I mean, I'm not going to lie, disappointment is a little bit of an understatement," Keuchel said Tuesday, a day after the trade deadline. "I feel like a bunch of teams really bolstered their rosters for the long haul and for a huge playoff push, and us just kind of staying pat was really disappointing to myself."
The Yankees have added pitchers Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle, and third baseman Todd Frazier in a series of moves. The Red Sox, who are battling the Yankees for the top spot in the AL East, acquired reliever Addison Reed on Monday. The Indians, the reigning AL pennant winners, also bolstered their bullpen by trading for right-hander Joe Smith.
Though the Astros were linked to Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton, Houston added only left-hander Francisco Liriano at Monday's non-waiver trade deadline.
The Astros have lost three pitchers -- Lance McCullers Jr. (back), Tony Sipp (calf) and Michael Feliz (shoulder) -- to the disabled list this week. Keuchel himself is coming off of his first start in nearly two months due to a neck injury.
Despite mounting injuries and failing to land a big addition, Keuchel believes Houston has a championship-caliber team.
"I think we have a good enough team to go to the World Series," Keuchel said. "We've pretty much had the same team since spring training. So, that was the motto in spring training -- we knew we were going to be good. And now that we didn't really do too much at the deadline, it's going to be an in-clubhouse kind of vibe the rest of the year."
Keuchel just hopes a 9-7 start to the second half and a quiet trade deadline isn't a prelude to a postseason letdown.
"We obviously believe in ourselves and we believe we're good enough to win now and get to the World Series," Keuchel said. "It's just good teams can always be great and great teams can always be legendary. So, at the end of the year we want to be the only ones left. It's just a little disappointing for sure."