Yankees should root for Astros to keep losing as two stars are perfect trade deadline fits

Yankees fans should be hoping that the Astros keep losing. And not just because they hate that franchise more than all others.

But because when it comes to the trade deadline, Alex Bregman and Ryan Pressly are ideal fits for the Yankees — and a lot of other clubs, too.

Both are free agents after the season. Both have picked it up after poor starts. Both are fearless and championship proven — Pressly is one of the best postseason relievers in history.

The righty would be Clay Holmes’ late-game partner and security blanket, and add much-needed strikeout acumen to a bullpen that could use a minimum of two additions, including one lefty in a perfect world.

Bregman, a terrific defender and low-strikeout hitter, would ideally step in at third for the Yankees with DJ LeMahieu going to second, first or the bench depending on the health and performance of him, Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo.

Now, before every Astros fan sees if they have frequent flier miles to come to New York to picket The Post, my gut is that the Astros will not sell, and if they do, multiple teams, not just the Yankees, would be lining up for these and many other Astros. This is meant to underscore what the Yankees need, where they might get it and how many teams defiantly are anti-selling — with Houston being the most interesting case to watch.

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Astros owner Jim Crane, upon announcing a five-year extension with Jose Altuve in February, declared, “While I’m here, the window will never close.” And GM Dana Brown has consistently stated that the club has no intention of selling.

But there are intentions and statements … and reality. The Astros were 35-40 entering the weekend. What if that doesn’t change by mid-July — or even gets worse?

The Yankees had never been a seller during Steinbrenner ownership before 2016 and weren’t planning to be that year, yet were. And they were back in the ALCS (against the sign-stealing Astros) the following year — symbolic that selling now does not necessarily mean a rebuild is afoot.

The 2023 Mets, coming off a 100-win season and having constructed by far the most expensive roster in history, did not envision being large-scale traders, but notably dealt Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander at last year’s deadline.

For where the Astros are now, though — coming off seven straight ALCS appearances (and two titles) and with an owner fervent about not taking a step backward — an apt comparison would be the 2015 Tigers. Detroit had appeared in the ALCS the four previous years (2011-14) behind the pitching of Scherzer and Verlander (coincidence alert, especially since Verlander is an Astro and Scherzer a Ranger, another sub-.500 club that is going to have to ask tough questions over the next few weeks).

In Mike Ilitch, those Tigers had an owner willing to support franchise-record payrolls. Ilitch, obsessed with winning a championship in his lifetime (he didn’t), abhorred the idea of surrendering more than Crane, who has titles to fall back upon.

But Scherzer had left in free agency after the 2014 campaign, and those Tigers, managed by current Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, reeled. Their GM at the time, current Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, recalled, “going back and forth and back and forth” on what to do well into July.

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Dombrowski, a renowned big-game hunter in his decades running teams, ended up being a huge July seller, moving closer Joakim Soria, starter David Price and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, whose acquisition fueled the Mets’ NL pennant run.

“You have to be realistic with yourself, and I’m not saying everybody [with the Tigers], even at that point, agreed with the decision,” Dombrowski remembered. “I can’t even tell you [Ilitch] agreed with the decision, though he did eventually sign off on it. I got fired a few days later, so maybe if I had stayed with the team that we had, maybe he would have kept me. Ultimately, like a lot of things in this game, you have to do what your heart tells you is the right thing and make that decision.”

In his heart, Dombrowski did not believe his 2015 Tigers team was a contender. What will Crane-Brown think of their Astros in three weeks?

Now, much has changed from 2015. Five teams in each league made the playoffs then with the two wild cards playing a sudden-death game. Now six teams make it, the first round is a best-of-three, and the fact a sixth seed in the NL has made it to the World Series each of the past two years with 87 wins (2022 Phillies) and 84 wins (2023 Diamondbacks), respectively, has encouraged even more clubs to try to get into the playoffs.

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Of course, some teams that stand pat or go for it are going to have remorse — the 2023 Angels, for example, ransacked a thin farm system to be go-for-it buyers, began a season-defining, seven-game losing streak on deadline day and ultimately did not convince Shohei Ohtani with their fervor to stay.

Additionally, in 2015, the draft began June 8. Since 2021, the draft has been held at the All-Star Game, so July 14-16 this year or within two weeks of the 6 p.m. July 30 trade deadline.

As one top baseball official for a team unsure what it will do at the deadline joked, “I only have two eyes, and one is on the draft, one is on buying and one is on selling.” There are finite time and finite scouting resources to disperse to more places in a narrower window.

And lots of teams are hovering in buy-or-sell mode. All but two NL teams (Colorado, Miami) were either in a playoff spot or within 1 ¹/₂ games entering the weekend. In the AL, the Astros were one of four 2023 playoff teams with huge 2024 ambitions who were under .500 but not hopelessly out of it — also Tampa Bay, Toronto and defending champion Texas.

All will insist they are not selling “because what else are you going to say?” Dombrowski explained. “If you’re borderline, I don’t think you can publicly be saying to your organization or your fans, ‘Hey, we’re going to be selling, we’re going to be moving players,’ when you’re not 100 percent sure of that because that can take the heart out of your team — you’re still trying to make the playoffs.”

So it really shouldn’t matter what Astros officials are saying now. The truest statement will be the team’s record. Dombrowski’s Phillies, Brian Cashman’s Yankees and every contender are going to hope multiple borderline teams tank over the next three or so weeks. More sellers improve inventory and potentially lower prices (see capitalism, supply and demand).

Dombrowski mentioned even strong contenders tend to wait as close as possible to the deadline. Because without the clock ticking perilously close to the deadline, sellers are not under immediate duress to act, plus feel they should get more in return because the players have more time with a new team.

But, Dombrowski also explained, buyers have limited collateral and are leery of trading today and suddenly having another issue arise by late July and now not possessing the prospects to go fix it.

At present, the Yankees seem to need two relievers and a corner infield bat. The Astros — their longtime playoff nemesis — could help fortify them for October. But will Houston (and others) lose enough before July 30 that reality overwhelms the no-sell statements and deepens the deadline market?

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