Why Astros lost 'brutal' three-team trade with Rays, Pirates

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Why Astros lost 'brutal' three-team trade with Rays, Pirates originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Houston Astros fell flat on their faces in the Wild Card Series. 

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They never gained enough momentum during the regular season for contending teams to view them as a threat. 

Houston's pitching staff, outside of starter Hunter Brown and closer Josh Hader, was subpar, to say the least. 

However, they did get a surprisingly good year from right-hander Peter Lambert. 

Another Astros starter was demoted to Triple-A midseason and never returned. The righty was acquired in last offseason's three-team trade involving the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates. 

"The Astros gave up two high-profile prospects in Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito to acquire [Mike] Burrows in a three-team deal with the Pirates and Rays," Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter wrote. "He was demoted to Triple-A in early July after a brutal outing against the Nationals (4.1 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 7 ER) and did not return to the MLB roster." 

In 18 appearances (17 starts), Burrows posted an ugly 5.99 ERA. 1.55 WHIP and struck out just 7.1 hitters per nine innings. 

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The Pirates missed the postseason, but they received a combined 8.7 bWAR from second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Magnum, and lefty reliever Mason Montgomery from the trade. 

Burrows flashed some potential in Pittsburgh, but it would take a lot to regain the Astros' trust in him for a starting pitcher's role. 

Any way you slice it, the trade turned out to be a mess for the Astros. Who knows, Burrows could prove the doubters wrong and have a strong bounceback season. 

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