CONFIRMED DEAL: The Houston Astros have officially reached a consensus to acquire an experienced starting pitcher from the Philadelphia Phillies   at the deadline. However.

Blockbuster Trade Prediction Sends Mets Slugger to Astros

The Houston Astros are 7 games below .500 headed into play on June 11, but they still could be buyers at the trade deadline. With Houston just 5.5 games out of a wild-card spot, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller predicted the Astros would “double down” and trade for Pete Alonso of the New York Mets.

Alonso would fill a definite need at first base for the Astros. Jose Abreu is back in the major leagues but doesn’t appear to have turned his season around yet. In 12 games since rejoining the club, he is hitting .180 with 10 strikeouts and just 1 walk over 40 at-bats. Lefty Jon Singleton hasn’t been much better. In sporadic playing time, he’s batting .210 with a below-league-average OPS+ of 88.

Miller pointed out that adding Alonso would instantly make him the team’s best first baseman — and one of the their best hitters overall.

“Though this hasn’t been the best slugging season of his career, the Polar Bear has 14 home runs and 30 total extra-base hits, both of which are better marks than any Astro not named Kyle Tucker can claim,” Miller wrote in a June 11 story on “updated predictions” for July 30 trade deadline. “Getting that right-handed power bat into the heart of the order could be a major game-changer for a team that has been burying its first baseman at eighth in the order on a regular basis.”

This all depends on the Mets’ willingness to sell. Though rival GMs expect New York to be at the “epicenter” of the trade deadline market, that’s only provided they don’t go on a hot streak. Like the Astros, they’re toiling below .500, but are within striking distance of the wild card (3.5 games back).

The uncertainty is a byproduct of the expanded playoffs, keeping the regular season meaningful for more teams, but also leaving organizations in limbo even longer.

Pete Alonso May Be a Rental

Regardless of where Alonso goes — and GMs widely expect the Mets to trade him — he will likely only be a rental. Alonso signed a 1-year, $20.5 million deal with the Mets in the offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

Reports have swirled that Alonso will probably re-sign with the Mets this coming offseason, a sentiment that Jim Bowden of The Athletic echoed on June 11.