Houston Astros

After being the laughingstock of Major League Baseball for the past five years, the Houston Astros are in a position to make it to the playoffs for the first time since their appearance in the 2005 World Series. 

After having a dreadful past four seasons, losing 100-plus games from 2011 to 2013 and 92 last season, the Astros have made a surprising comeback and are three games up on the Los Angeles Angles for first place in the AL West going into Wednesday’s games. 

The Astros went all out in acquiring center fielder Carlos Gomez and right-hander Mike Fiers from the Milwaukee Brewers along with left-hander Scott Kazmir from the Oakland Athletics in their surge at the trade deadline. 

Gomez gives the Astros needed speed on the base paths along with a reliable glove in center. Fiers has had a good season with the Brewers, posting a 3.89 ERA in 21 starts, and he will help solidify an already good rotation for the Astros. Kazmir fills the spot of a second left-handed pitcher, and he had a scoreless streak of 14.2 innings going into his start against Texas on Wednesday.

In exchange for Kazmir, the Astros traded away prospects Daniel Mengden and Jacob Nottingham. The Brewers got Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana, Josh Hader, and Adrian Houser.

While trading away prospects seems illogical for the Astros in the long run, they can’t pass up an opportunity for a shot in the playoffs.

These acquisitions definitely label the Astros as winners when it comes to last-minute moves at the trade deadline and may help them take that extra step needed to solidify their position as leaders of the AL West.     Who knows if everything will go as planned? We may just see them face their old National League rivals St. Louis in the World Series. 

— Rod engblom

Toronto Blue Jays

After years and years of mediocrity and struggling to make their way through the AL East, the Blue Jays look primed to make the postseason for the first time since 1993 — which would end longest playoff drought in the majors.

Toronto dealt Jose Reyes and prospects Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, and Jesus Tinoco in order to obtain shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins from the Rockies, adding another bat to an already potent offensive lineup.

What the team really needed to make it not only a contender for playoff qualification but also for the World Series, was pitching. They answered that problem as well by acquiring David Price from the Detroit Tigers.

Through the years, Price has established himself as a top-five starting pitcher in baseball — with a Cy Young Award to back it up. So far in 2015, he’s 10-4 with a 2.45 ERA.

Besides Price, the only proven effective starter the Jays had was Mark Buehrle — who has an ERA of 3.32. Now, the two provide the team a pair of pitchers who can win big games in the playoffs, especially with the caliber of hitting the Jays have to back them up.

Whether the Jays have a deep-enough pitching staff to carry them through the postseason is still in question, but the acquisition of Price gives them a shot.

On Monday, Price made his début with the team, striking out 11 and allowing just 1 run.

Watch out for this team in the playoffs.

— Charlie Green