HOUSTON — Hello, Houston Astros fans. The team reached the season’s halfway point Tuesday night on a 76-win pace. Playing in the American League makes that manageable, but Houston cannot count on other clubs’ continued mediocrity. A consequential five weeks await before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.Houston is healthier than it has been all season and led by an American League MVP front-runner. General manager Dana Brown has signaled a desire to buy at the trade deadline. The next five weeks might determine to what extent. In the interim, let’s answer some of your questions.Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.If there’s a potential game changer on the market with a big contract, assuming the Astros are able to make the trade, would they go over the CBT threshold to acquire him? — Chad M.This is a question only owner Jim Crane can answer, Chad. He hasn’t taken questions from reporters since January and, when he did, he described his relationship with the luxury tax this way:“I’m not necessarily afraid of it, but I run the team like a business, and there’s only so much resources you can put into it without going deep in the hole,” Crane said. “We don’t operate like a lot of the bigger-market teams, but you’ve seen over the years we’ll spend the money when we think it’s right, and we’ll be aggressive when we have to be. The template has been there for a long time. Every (trade) deadline, we’ve made some pretty big moves.”The Astros are $10,126,240 under the first luxury tax threshold, according to Cot’s Contracts. That’s not much room to maneuver, but for reference, they were around $5.5 million under the tax before last July’s deadline.Crane blew past the threshold to reacquire Carlos Correa — the sort of deadline move that has become a hallmark of his ownership tenure. Crane has paid the luxury tax each of the past two seasons. Penalties for third-time offenders include a 50 percent tax on all overages.Correa’s availability didn’t crystallize until a day or two before last year’s deadline, demonstrating how difficult it is to forecast in June whether another “pretty big move” will be available.The question Crane must ask his baseball operations department — and, perhaps more importantly, himself — is whether this is an Astros team worth such a splurge. According to FanGraphs, the team entered Wednesday with 28.4 percent odds to make the playoffs and 1.3 percent odds to win the World Series.Is that worth making “some pretty big moves”?Why MLB's draft proposal would be bad for baseball's futureKeith LawHow aggressive do you think Dana Brown will be at the deadline? He’s obviously trying to keep his job, but he can’t realistically trade what little top prospects the system has, right? — Michael L.It delivers a fascinating backdrop for this deadline, doesn’t it, Michael? Brown must balance his own future with that of an organization that might not offer him another contract. There’s also a clubhouse of 26 players and 10 coaches who believe they’ve earned the benefit of adding reinforcements.Which one carries more weight is a pertinent question. It’s almost impossible to imagine Brown answering questions about his future in Houston, but he is the same man who has reiterated his desire to “retire here.” Guiding this team to the postseason would not necessarily ensure that, though it would put him in far better standing than the alternative.