Rangers can't help but laugh as rival Astros prepare misguided trade deadline strategy

Schadenfreude is defined as taking joy in the suffering of others. Needless to say, Rangers fans are feeling a lot of schadenfreude about hated AL West rival Houston Astros' predicament right about now.

As they sit with just under 60 games to play in the 2026 season, they are still acting as if they are all-in trade deadline buyers despite everything being stacked against them. At 50-54, they are 2.0 games behind the Rangers for the top spot in the West and 3.5 games behind the resurgent Boston Red Sox for the final wild-card spot.

And it's not just that they are behind the 8-ball in terms of their record and where they sit in the standings; they also have very little going for them that would lead you to believe they can afford to be buyers as August 3 quickly approaches.

The Astros' pitching is in shambles, and they have one of the worst farm systems in MLB

What are the Astros thinking? Looking at their starting rotation, it is clear that they are a long way from having a competitive staff. Right now, they are rolling out Peter Lambert (a diamond in the rough whom they signed out of Japan this winter), Spencer Arrighetti, who had a solid start to the season but has since fallen off badly, Hunter Brown, who is returning from injury and still ramping up, and Tatsuya Imai at the back end, rolling with a 5.59 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.

Brown, who is a Cy-Young caliber pitcher when healthy, is clearly not the same pitcher he was before his injury and likely won't be until 2027. So why would you still want to push all your chips to the middle of the table with your ace just a shell of himself for the rest of the season? They just traded stalwart Lance McCullers Jr. to the Brewers in what appears to be a misguided attempt to free up cash for a deadline move. Why??

The Astros are also in dire straits when it comes to the bullpen. Outside of all-world closer Josh Hader, they are struggling to find anyone who can get the ball to him with any consistency. Steven Okert has been serviceable, but they just sent key contributor Bryan King down to Triple-A Sugar Land. This was a guy who had logged 45 innings over 42 appearances.

Three pitchers Houston acquired in the offseason have been DFA'd in Ryan Weiss, Roddery Muñoz, and Christian Roa. Nothing is going right for this team, but they have been blinded by their past successes in owning the AL West and can't see the forest for the trees. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so damn sad!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it does. The Astros have one of the worst farm systems in baseball. In fact, Bleacher Report has them dead last with no Tier 1 or Tier 2 players in their pipeline. So there is no help coming from within the organization, or prospect capital to offer up to attract potential sellers.

Yordan Alvarez can't slug his way around the organization's financial problems and lack of talent on the farm and on the mound.

So, whenever you get down on the Rangers and their maddening inconsistency, take solace in knowing that not only are the Astros in much worse shape, but they don't even seem to know how bad off they are.

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