Astros pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training tomorrow. The team’s roster remains jumbled as camp is soon to get underway. They’re still heavily right-handed and have an arguable surplus of infielders with an unimposing outfield mix.
Trading an infielder, especially Isaac Paredes, has been the most speculated avenue to balancing the roster. General manager Dana Brown has repeatedly said the Astros aren’t motivated to do so. Brown has pointed to the impact that Paredes had on Houston’s lineup before he suffered a significant hamstring strain midway through his first season with the club. The Astros are only a year removed from acquiring him as an instrumental piece in their return for Kyle Tucker, feeling that his pull-heavy approach from the right side would play well with the short left field at Houston’s Daikin Park. That proved to be the case, as Paredes hit 20 homers with a .254/.352/.458 slash in 102 games.
Even as team personnel have struck a public tone that they’re happy with their infield depth, it seems they’ve been more on board with the trade route behind the scenes. Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported last week that the Astros were discussing Paredes with upwards of five teams, including the Pirates and Red Sox. Rome wrote in a column at The Athletic this morning that they’ve intensified efforts to find a match on the trade front. Houston continues to pursue a left-handed hitting outfielder as part of any potential return, Rome adds.
A handful of recent moves could make that less likely. They reportedly kicked around a three-team framework that would have involved acquiring Brendan Donovan from St. Louis. That didn’t come to fruition and he’s now a Mariner. The Red Sox have signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa and traded for Caleb Durbin from the Brewers, which seemingly fills out their infield. Pittsburgh signed Marcell Ozuna to a $12MM free agent contract to add a right-handed power bat. They’re still looking to upgrade over Jared Triolo at third base, but it’s unclear if they’re interested in accommodating Paredes’ $9.35MM salary.
Speculatively, the Brewers may be the best on-paper fit after the Durbin trade. Milwaukee isn’t likely to part with Sal Frelick, but center fielder Garrett Mitchell or corner bat Tyler Black are left-handed hitters who could play the outfield in Houston. The Twins have an uncertain corner infield mix and some expendable lefty outfield bats (e.g. Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach). The Guardians have a heavily left-handed first base and outfield mix and desperately need a right-handed power bat. They could offer someone like George Valera if they’re willing to reinvest any of the money they saved by restructuring José Ramírez’s contract into the 2026 payroll.
The Padres are looking for another corner infielder and could certainly use Paredes at first base, though they don’t have any lefty-hitting outfielders of significance to offer. (Jackson Merrill obviously isn’t getting traded.) That’d also be a drawback in talks with Pittsburgh even if they’re willing to take on the money. The Astros aren’t taking the Bryan Reynolds contract. Pittsburgh probably wouldn’t view Paredes as enough of an upgrade over Spencer Horwitz to relinquish five years of control on Horwitz even if the Astros felt he could play a reasonable left field. There’s always the possibility of looping in a third team to try to balance value, but the direct trade scenarios involving Paredes are tougher to align than they were a week or two ago.
Trading Paredes would create some payroll flexibility for a Houston team that is right up against a $244MM luxury tax line that ownership seemingly doesn’t want to cross. If they don’t find a trade partner (or anyone willing to pick up a notable portion of the Christian Walker contract in a salary dump), he’d project as a multi-positional infielder behind Walker, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. Yordan Alvarez will get the majority of the at-bats at designated hitter.
Too bad, ‘stros. Music has stopped and there’s no chairs left.
Lars Nootbar and Jojo Romero, include Boston in the deal. Sounds like a good plan all the way around
Sox have no need for Parades now.
Enjoy, Boston would always consider a further trade if it made the club better. That said, Houston apparently overplayed their hand in negotiating with Boston. Boras has been able to pull magic out his butt this off season so maybe Houston will end up with a better deal (or as I posted elsewhere, sometimes the best trade is the one you don’t make).
Nah, no need for Parades. He was never a really true fit to begin with. They want Mayer at third. Now with Durbin and IKF the infield is set, along w depth.
Juan Soto plays left
They can have Joc Pederson
I’ll give you Trevor Larnach straight up.
I’ll give you Kenni Gomez for Larnach.
I’ll give you Pedro Gomez for Kenni Gomez
You try.
Larnach is a good player, Twins would have to extend Parades for a trade to make sense and that is unlikely.
Ummm…. no. Paredes and Larnach both are eligible for free agency in 2028. Larnach has been far less valuable through his career to date. Paredes for Larnach straight up would be a steal for Twins.
There’s still a market. Looks like the Twins are a good trading partner. Brewers look nice. I would do for a package centered around Mitchell or Perkins.
Go get you some Grant McCray.
Larnach for Walker and $25mil?
Pass.
Really? that’s a good deal. You’d have your OF and can move Paredes to first. Walker looks shot.
Think that a package of maybe Perkins, Black and maybe Hall for Parede and Smith or something like that would work.
Hell nah. Perkins and Black is barely getting Paredes (if it is at all). Much less Paredes and Smith
Smith is worth way more than Hall.
Heck that was the centerpiece of the Tucker deal, no way they trade him.
Thanks for pointing out sense. Most think Paredes was the centerpiece. They are wrong. Again, thanks.
I doubt the Brewers trade for a pricey (by their standards) guy with only 2 years of control. Not their style.
Perkins is a good OF but hes very much a 4th OF. Mitchell hasn’t played much the last two seasons. Might be the best Houston can do right now, but neither permanently fills an OF spot. And neither thumps reliably.
Minny won’t trade for a two-year player. IMO, they are rebuilding.
Paredes already plays in one of the two ideal home parks for his league pacing pulled FB%< while the other decided to deviate from their goals of adding power and acquired Durbin instead.
Standing pat or attaching a prospect/cash to Walker would make more sense at this point.
The reason a trade hasn’t happened is because none of those mentioned outfielders are that attractive outside of Bryan Reynolds, who is coming off a down year and
as stated – he is out of the Astros price range.
I think the Astros are doing the smart thing in keeping Paredes. Correa gets hurt a lot and Walker and Altuve are getting up there in years. Nothing wrong with some depth as they discovered the hard way last year.
To be fair, I’d rather just stand pat then go trade Paredes for anyone that’s out there. Hopefully Jesus Sanchez can rebound but we’ll see in spring training. Then we can decide. I have high hopes in Sanchez to be able to rebound so we don’t have to add anything and keep Paredes.
Pirates get Paredes
Astros get Brandon Marsh
Phillies get Keller
only works if the pirates get a work horse type pitcher from somewhere.
Keller for an above average bat with a bit of control with the potential of saving money seems like a decent move if there is a reality it can work?
I’d get Quintana at least and if there was enough money left in their budget get Tyler Anderson as well.
Interesting
Not
Who is this a bad trade for?
Suwinski for Parades. Get it done Ben!
You wish.
Why isnt Oneil Cruz being mentioned as a possible left handed OF bat for Paredes?
His defense is questionable at best. And his effort at times is mind boggling.
Verdugo probably doesn’t have much going on.
And for a very good reason! Lol
Reynolds actually makes the most sense from the Pirates perspective. They currently have like 5 of the same player (Reynolds, Horwitz, Lowe, O’Hearn, Ozuna). The only 1 that fits the LH OF profile the Astros are looking for is Reynolds.
It’s a money issue. The Astros are right up against the first threshold and don’t wanna go over.
*sigh*. As a team that’s making a ton of revenue I wish you would spend more.
It just doesn’t make much sense for the Pirates at the moment though does it? Is the upgrade from Paredes to Triolo worth going from Reynolds to someone like Suwinski?
They have Florentino waiting in the wings and Jhostnyxon as well but are these guys good enough to warrant a move for Paredes? My bet is the Astros just keep him or move him for a less than ideal solution than they’re looking for. Left handed outfielders who are worth their weight aren’t very common.
Your trading regular at bats that were going to go to Reynolds & Triolo now go to Paredes, Mangum & Garcia. Suwinski is not making the Pirates
Suwinski has to be bummed that Derek Shelton is gone because he’s literally the only one who would ever put him in the lineup consistently regardless of production.
Mangum is already one of their outfielders in my opinion so Garcia or Suwinski are their only experienced OF that are next in line.
For me personally, I would take Triolo and Reynolds over Paredes and Garcia/Suwinski.
The Rays have a ton. Cedric Mullins is good. I promise!
I am GLAD we didn’t trade for Cedric at the deadline. Also you have Junior at the hot corner.
Put Paredes or Junior at SS. I would take a stick at short over Taylor Walls as long as it could hit .250.
Paredes can’t play SS. He can play 2B though. And 1B.
Pirates get Paredes
Astros get Jurickson Profar
Braves get Keller
Profar is too expensive.
Walker, cover a third of his salary, and a prospect for vodnik and moniak?
Walker and half the contract for wallner?
Why would we need Vodnik?
Can you have enough pitching?
Where would we play him?
Cards have Lars Nootbar. Maybe there’s something can be worked out there
How about one of Dom Canzone or Luke Raley plus prospects?
I do not want to trade with Seattle for the plain fact they are our divison rival.
Fair enough!
Why don’t the Astros trade Carlos Corea for Twins Trevor Larnach. If the Astros agree to pay both Corea and Larnach’s salaries, I am sure the Astros could land a left handed hitting outfieldeer with home run power!
Pirates- Paredes
Astros- Kwan
Guardians- prospects and players from Pirates, and Astros (take whatever, I dont care at this point)
(Yes I know ive posted this other places but it makes too much sense)
Marsh hair and beard in the Houston heat ? Nice try
We have a closed roof. Have you walked in Houston July heat though? It’s scorching. You sweat in like 10 seconds.
Is it “like” 10 seconds, or actually 10 seconds ?
Depends on the day. Normally it’s more than that for me. However, I have seen older people sweat in an actual 10 seconds. Also depends on what you do.
Dom Canzone for Paredes
Reasons Why Trade Will Not Work
1. Division Rival
2. Paredes does not fit in T-Mobile
3. Canzone is unproven at the plate and a butcher in the field.
This is what happens when you have a tightwad owner who treats the tax as a. So and an indecisive draft scout as a GM.
Meanwhile, JV has signed with the Tigers, and the chances of him rounding out the Astros rotation goes up in smoke. This obsession with left hand outfielders seems to be taking away the focus on pitching, which still looks like a weakness going into the season.
Easy, trade Cruz for Paredes, resign Cutch. Call me if you ever need a cheap GM, Bob
Yankees should be on the phone with Grisham reps asking if he will waive his no trade rights till June… along with throwing in a prospect or 2
I wanted Grisham if he didn’t have his QO.
There’s all kinds of lefty outfielders still out there looking for work.
Lefty outfielder? Sounds like the Astros could have used Kyle Tucker…
Astros need to just keep Paredes. Wait for the trade deadline. Maybe pick someone up who knows.
Sanchez is a wash out. He is not going to rebound. I just do not think he fits.
I cannot remember what was Jacob Melton was he LH or RH.
Curious as well what is Dezenzo is he still going to be used and where. To help Walker, outfield. I think after this season Meyers will be done. He is done as it is. He will be nowhere near last season.
I just do not see Houston skyrocketing this coming season.
Nice that Verlander and Jeckyl and Hyde back together in Detroit. Houston would have made a bad mistake to have him even if just for a year. Verlander that is.
I would love to see Cam pick it up for Houston. I still can’t tell where he will go for Houston. If they are going to use him in LF and Sanchez in RF.
Sounds like Alvarez will be DH more than in field. I am not impressed with him in the field. But I say is better than Altuve in LF. Altuve finish career at 2B myself. Correa will be at 3rd. First most likely Walker.
I think the off season at end of the upcoming season Houston needs to find a TRUE GM AND MANAGER. Boy do I miss Luhnow and Dusty/Hinch. At least they knew how to do things. Plus yes I do agree if had an owner who would spend but i do not want someone who will go out and get someone for 20 year contract type and he only be good for 5 years maybe. I wonder if soto is living up to his contract.
I think you are down on Sanchez. Melton is a LHB. Dezenzo is LF/RF/1B/2B I think.
You username is WSnotAstros2017. Does that meant Astros didn’t get 2017 WS? Is that really your username? Kinda find that hard to believe you are an Astro fan with the username or maybe you are just a really pessimisc one. Probably a very pessimisc one because you wrote that much about the Astros and it sounds like a very pessimisc Astro POV. Who knows? Maybe it’s ChatGPT or something.
If Houston trades Paredes they’ll regret it a month into the season when Correa blows out his knee or ankle.
That’s what I’m saying. Keep him. Listen but don’t shop.
A) Trade Bryan Reynolds
B) Sign Cutch
I wonder if they would accept Kerry Carpenter from the Tigers.
Probably. Would the Tigers trade Carpenter for Paredes 1-1. Astros need to add value I think.
JACK SUWINSKI, YOU ARE A HOUSTON ASTRO
No he’s not.
Why is Reynolds being written off after one underwhelming year?