\n\n\n Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown, right, talks with manager Joe Espada before an MLB baseball game in Houston, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle)\n \n\n\nThe Houston Astros do not want to deal from their major-league roster in their pursuit of help ahead of Monday's trade deadline, general manager Dana Brown told the team's pregame radio show Sunday.\nBrown has said the Astros want to add offense, specifically in their outfield, and possibly pitching before the deadline arrives at 5 p.m. CT on Monday. The club's capacity to make multiple significant additions is not clear, though, between trade capital and payroll considerations.\nOne way to mitigate both might be for Houston to trade from its major-league roster to off-set both the prospect cost and additional payroll created by any acquisitions. The Astros entered Sunday roughly $11 million below the first CBT threshold, per Cot's Contracts.\nBrown, however, told the pregame radio show: "We do not want to pull from our major-league team. We have a good core, we've got a good group going right now and the team's playing very well, everyone's settling into their role. So we'd like to keep it like that and not pull from our major-league team."\nIf that stance holds, it suggests the Astros will need to pursue trades by offering prospects from a farm system widely ranked among the sport's thinnest by outside evaluators. Brown acknowledged as much during his radio appearance.\n"The tough part is sometimes in order to get something you have to give up something, and that sometimes means your prospects," Brown said.\nHouston's farm system was ranked 26th of 30 teams in the most recent rankings from Baseball America, which has 2025 first-round pick Xavier Neyens as the club's only top-100 overall prospect. MLB Pipeline ranks Neyens and outfielder Kevin Alvarez among its top-100 overall prospects.\nBrown did not offer specifics about the Astros' trade discussions with about 30 hours until the deadline but said "calls have definitely started to heat up starting yesterday" and the team is "very hopeful" and "locking into a few things."\nBrown also said he believes "we definitely have the prospect capital" required to consummate a trade. Brown did his interview remotely from what he described as a "war room," which he said included the team's assistant general managers, director-level staff and "of course" senior advisor to ownership and baseball operations Jeff Bagwell. Astros owner Jim Crane will also "pop in," Brown said.\nThe Astros entered Sunday's series finale against the Texas Rangers with a 1-game lead in the AL West, having won 10 of their last 11 games.\nSubscribeTheres more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25.\nThis article originally published at Houston Astros don't want to trade from major-league roster, GM Dana Brown says.