The Astros are losing Framber Valdez to free agency, leaving them in need of multiple starting pitchers behind ace Hunter Brown. Houston has taken cheap one-year fliers on former top prospect Nate Pearson and KBO returnee Ryan Weiss to compete for spots at the back of the staff. Those are fine dice rolls, but they’ll need to acquire someone whom they can comfortably slot alongside Cristian Javier in the middle of the rotation.
If owner Jim Crane remains loathe to cross the luxury tax line, the front office won’t have much flexibility to add free agent starting pitching. Chandler Rome of The Athletic writes that the club is indeed more likely to address the rotation via trade. One of the league’s weakest farm systems won’t do them any favors, so they might be looking at dealing from the MLB roster to accomplish that.
Houston is reportedly open to dealing standout defensive center fielder Jake Meyers for pitching. Meyers is coming off a career-best season at the plate and is controllable via arbitration for two seasons. He’s the best trade chip in the Houston outfield, but he’s not the only candidate to move this offseason. Rome reports that the Astros have gotten interest from other clubs in right fielder Jesús Sánchez as well.
That could explain why Sánchez remains on the roster at all. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $6.5MM salary in his third of four trips through the arbitration process. It came as a surprise that Houston tendered him a contract. Sánchez had a very poor finish to the 2025 season, batting .199/.269/.342 over 160 plate appearances after being acquired from Miami at the trade deadline. Combined with the escalating salaries and the payroll restrictions, it made him a non-tender candidate.
General manager Dana Brown acknowledged at last month’s GM Meetings that he was open to trade inquiries on Sánchez. Even if they’re not especially interested in paying him $6-7MM, it seems they found enough interest that they didn’t want to let him go for no return.
Sánchez isn’t going to net a mid-rotation arm, but it’s possible they swap him for a back-end starter. Teams like the Royals, Pirates, Guardians and Phillies could look to the trade market for a corner outfielder. While Sánchez has never lived up to his billing as a top prospect, he was an alright everyday player throughout his time with the Marlins. He was a league average hitter between 2021 and the ’25 deadline, hitting .246/.312/.432 in nearly 1900 plate appearances. He has plus bat speed and has typically posted strong exit velocities, though his batted ball metrics also collapsed in Houston.
Even if the Astros are unlikely to swap Sánchez for their biggest rotation pickup of the offseason, a change-of-scenery deal would create a bit of spending room. Trading both Sánchez and Meyers would leave them very thin in the outfield, and dealing the former would subtract one of their few left-handed bats. While Dana Brown has already said they’re not interested in moving Isaac Paredes, that might be something the front office needs to consider later in the offseason if they can’t find a mid-rotation arm in a different way.
6.5 for .199
Sánchez is the very definition of mediocrity.