Last offseason, they didn't know McCullers, Garcia, and Urquidy would all get hurt and that Javier would have his issues. JV was a luxury last offseason. The benefit of trading for things at the deadline is that you know what issues you have 2 months before the playoffs. If they had JV and all the pitchers were healthy, but instead Altuve, Yordan and Tucker were injured today, they wouldn't necessarily have the financial flexibility to go get the hitter they needed. Obviously the negative is that it takes prospects and you have less control over the process, but it's not as simple as just paying people. If they do get JV now, they'll get him for way less money than had they signed him outright.
Cease had an incredible season last year and has largely been mediocre to pretty good for the rest of his career. I get the hesitancies with JV but acting like Cease is any more of a sure thing just because he's younger is wish-casting, at best.
What would Lorenzen cost the Astros? I really don’t want to give up Gilbert in a JV trade . Concerned about how thin our prospect lineup is
He didn't want to pay him what he was asking for, it is what it is. But they went into the season with a sketchy starting rotation. 2 of those pitchers are pitchers that weren't the caliber they wanted to start postseason games. The 3rd has made it through the season and post-season as a fully healthy starter like once since 2017. Then throw in gambling on an unproven rookie in Brown, and gambling on a Javier peak outcome. All while losing the reigning Cy Young winner.
