Baseball is a game of what-ifs and near-misses, both on and off the field.



Here is a what-if that might have changed the course of the 2018 season:



What if the Houston Astros had acquired Bryce Harper at the non-waiver deadline?



The Astros had a trade in place for Harper on July 30, but the deal collapsed when Washington Nationals ownership refused to approve the move, according to major-league sources.



Without Harper, the Astros still finished 103-59, won their second straight AL West title and swept the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series. But in the American League Championship Series, the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox defeated the Astros in only five games.



For Harper, the Nationals would have obtained right-hander J.B. Bukauskas, the Astros’ No. 8 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, and two other minor leaguers, sources said. Catcher Garrett Stubbs, the team’s No. 15 prospect, was in play, and the...