Astros named favorites to land $21 million Red Sox starter

The Houston Astros are in first place in the American League West, and aren't too far behind the Detroit Tigers for first place in baseball. Despite the Astros thriving in 2025, there is still a glaring issue on the roster: the starting rotation.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report presented one way for the Astros to fix things, as he named the Astros as one of the favorites to land Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Walker Buehler in a trade.

"But one doesn't exactly need to squint to see how Buehler fits here." Rymer writes. "And if he did come to Houston, pitching coaches Josh Miller and Bill Murphy would have a clear objective: Make Buehler miss bats again."

The Astros need starters, as they have a plethora out on the injured list. Spencer Arrighetti, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, J.P. France, and Lance McCullers are all on the injured list. But, they can return at some point this season, unlike Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski, who both had Tommy John surgery.

With seven starters on the injured list, out for varying amounts of time, adding another starter at the trade deadline isn't out of the realm of possibility. With Buehler, despite his struggles in 2024 and 2025, he could be a good fit in Houston.

He wouldn't be the team's top starter and could slide into the back-end of the rotation. Taking the pressure off him and also allowing him to tweak his game and get back to his pre-Tommy John surgery version of himself.

Buehler has been in trade rumors for some time, and even with his $21 million price tag, there are plenty of teams in need of starting pitching. But Buehler has struggled in 2025. He has a 6.29 ERA across 13 starts and a 10.64 ERA in his last five outings. 

However, Buehler would be a solid pickup for the Astros. While he's struggled, he still has potential that Houston could harness, which they've been able to do with their starters in recent years. 

The Astros need more starting pitching, and Buehler, despite his struggles, could be a solid option. Rymer called the Astros one of Buehler's top destinations in a trade, and one of the favorites to land him. With their stellar pitching coaches, the Astros would be among the teams most likely to bring Buehler back to his All-Star self from before the 2023 season.