If it was me I would have Peña, Paredes and Alvarez all on the market and move the guy I thought was the biggest overpay from the other team. I also really like Urias though, so having him as your utility guy makes me happy there.
Isn't Parades on a favorable contract? I think it would be foolish to trade him. He was our HR leader and overall best hitter for more than half the season before getting injured. He works counts, hits for power, and is the perfect Bregman replacement. He's a better overall bat than Correa who is way more expensive and much older. As far as trading Pena...He's due for a contract soon but it doesn't seem like Correa wants to go back to SS, and do you really want him to? He's only getting older and he's injury prone. Dana and Jim have some very tough decisions this coming off-season.
I agree trading Paredes is probably a bad idea and trading Pena is probably not ideal since it means moving an aging Correa back to SS. But the very good news is that Houston isn’t in position to have to do anything. They aren’t that strained financially and it’s not like Paredes has no flexibility; if their worst case scenario is having Paredes as a guy who subs in across 3B, 1B, DH, and maybe 2B until an injury inevitably opens up an everyday spot, that’s not the end of the world. The Astros have the depth and flexibility to be able to follow the market; that is a very good place to be. If a team wants to massively overpay for Pena, Houston has the option to take advantage of that without tanking their 2026 World Series aspirations; same for trading Paredes, Walker, or even Alvarez (although I cannot envision any plausible scenario where it makes sense to trade Alvarez). A couple of looming events have me very interested to see how Houston manages this coming offseason: first, they are poised to have 4-5 of the top 100 picks in the 2026 draft, which should dramatically improve their farm system and long term outlook, and leaning further into that by trading Pena for 2-4 top prospects who might arrive in the same window could give Houston an elite wave of talent similar to what they had in 2014-2019; second, there is a decent chance of a lockout in 2027 that might result in a lost season, which would reward teams who rebuild in 2026 and punt on 2027.
I think that would require moving off Walker which seems like a long shot with his remaining contract.
Why not? He is limited defensively to DH, and is very likely to be injured more and more often. The potential return is greater than his contribution to the team.
2 reasons: Jim Crane loves Yordan. He won’t green light trading him. You don’t trade a guy in his 20s with a career 162 wRC+ when he’s coming off a season where he posted a 74 wRC+. I can’t think of anything more stupid than that.
I said he’d have to have a big and healthy September/playoffs to rebuild his value. Even then it probably feels like selling low.
If Yordan has a good finish to this season and is good in the play offs his value in trade will be greater than his value to the team. He is likely to be injured more and more often. He is highly unlikely to be extended again.
Nope. If Alvarez “has a good finish to this season and is good in the playoffs”, then where do you find the logic that “his value in trade will be greater than his value to the team”???? When Alvarez is healthy, he is one of the 5 best hitters on the planet; that is the exact kind of player Houston should be keeping (not even considering that he is currently the only LH bat in their projected everyday lineup). So whether Alvarez plays well this year (in which case he has immense value to the 2026 Astros) or not (in which case he has no trade value) doesn’t really matter, because it doesn’t make sense to trade him either way. There is always some fantasy scenario where some stupid team comes and makes an irrefutable offer, but I defy you to show me an example of a player in Alvarez’s situation EVER being traded by any team in any era. It’s not plausible. Other teams have analysts and review medicals too. I know, I was responding to blindhog’s comment. You are totally entitled to your opinion and crazy **** happens all the time, so what do I know, but like I said I cannot envision any plausible scenario where it makes sense for the Astros to trade Alvarez.
Would you take the San Diego to Nats package on the Soto deal for Yordan? I probably would. I don’t know if anyone would offer it. Less defensive value, 1 more year and cheaper contract for Yordan than Soto (he got like 22M in arbitration 3 and 30 in arb 4 if I remember correctly) so with the injury history, maybe? it would be pretty unprecedented and I don’t think the Astros would do it, but I do think they consider everything. I think Chas is a non tender and Dubon is traded for sure. I’d expect their 13 man to be Diaz, Caratini (think they re-sign him for like 2/20), Walker, Paredes, Pena, Correa, Altuve, Meyers, Sanchez, Cam, Yordan, Urias, Dezenzo. Chas non tendered. Dubon- traded Mathews & Melton- optioned Trammell- released That’s 7 guys who can play IF and 6 guys that can play OF. Caratini makes 7M right now, Chas and Simon moving on free up 10M or so. If we did nothing coming back I have us about 5M under the tax line.
No one would offer that. If Alvarez had not suffered a serious injury or had such a lost season, maybe. But even then, it would not be comparable because of how long and how much Alvarez has left on his contract. There’s no comp. No one can stop you from fantasizing but it’s just not plausible.
If he burns down the league in September and goes out and wins a WS MVP you sure about that? Soto was 2 years at 52 or 55M when he got traded. Yordan is what- 3/78 or something? Soto is better defensively but he’s not particularly good and he doesn’t play a valuable position. The extra year seems big to me in normalizing their value. but my point is- I would think they are open to exploring every option on the table. Milwaukee would be the team that I could see making a run at it. They have a boatload of top 100 players, their lack of being a FA destination and their tight payroll, plus 3 years on the window I could see them pushing chips in.
Yes, I’m sure. This is the last comment I’m responding to about the ridiculous notion of trading Yordan Alvarez. If it happens, I will be first in line at the crow buffet.
If he burns down the league and wins another WS MVP en route to the Stros winning another World Series and yall are still even thinking about let alone discussing this nonsense on here, then I genuinely don’t know what to say. The whole ****ing point is to win WS. Not trade away one of a few guys that can damn near single handedly drag your offense to the championship and flip games and series on their head at any given moment. Injuries suck no argument here.
Agreed. Yordan is on a team friendly contract (including his injury status). He's the one constant that can propel this team to a higher level and win multiple series for you. 1 game can mean the difference between being down 1-3 or tied in a series and Yordan has already proven he can be that guy to win that 1 extra game. You don't trade someone like that... ever.
I’m not as objective. If Yordan gets healthy and dominates down the stretch and in the playoffs, I don’t want to deal him. I don’t think the Soto trade proceeds help us as much in the next 3-4 years. If I’m honest, I want to see Altuve Correa and Yordan have the best chance at winning another title. That would mean more to me than bolstering our farm, and restocking for another dynastic run that may or may not happen. Basically, another ring for Altuve, Correa and Yordan is worth more to me than 2 rings with a group without them in it.
