3 Astros players who are no longer in the roster as of September 1st

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Mauricio Dubon #14 of the Houston Astros plays the ball against the Oakland Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum on July 27, 2022 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

These three members of the Houston Astros roster will most likely be gone by September 1st.

The level of despair for the Houston Astros Winning a championship this year isn’t too bad. You can always go back to 2017, although some baseball fans will always see it with an asterisk. This year’s roster is so different from that of that championship season that we can practically call this year a new era.

We’re already seeing teams making some big and somewhat surprising roster cuts. Veterans are designated for deployment rather than playing out the end of their contract. Is there anyone on the Astros who will meet the same fate?

The Astros don’t actually have that big an albatross contract or an underperforming pitcher on the roster. In fact, the three players most likely to leave the roster by September 1 are all attacking players. Who will we see laid off when the calendar turns?

1) Astro’s roster doesn’t need Mauricio Dubon on it

Aledmys Diaz is the better version of Mauricio Dubon. It’s not even close. Together, the two aren’t that bad on a roster. There comes a point in a season when going around .200 is no longer acceptable. Because of this, Dubon is expected to be out of Houston by September 1st.

The Astros added Trey Mancini at the close of trade, giving them another hitter for use at DH, but also first base and even a corner spot in the outfield. He is a superior hitter to Dubon, whose role at this ball club was to play the entire field. Until September 1 rolls around and the Astros can actually use one of the extra roster spots for two better hitters rather than a versatile defender, we should expect Dubon to be gone.

How gone will he be? Running out of options, the 28-year-old would have to be designated for allocation to be dropped from the 26-man squad. Considering how badly he scored, it’s not such an unwise decision.

The health of someone like Michael Brantley could knock Dubon off the list. A hot hitter in the minor leagues could also do the trick.