I don’t consider the Braves trading Acuna as plausible, but it would take a lot more than Pena. Maybe a package of Jeremy Pena, Cam Smith, Brice Matthews, and Miguel Ullola might get close.
I agree that Pena alone would not do it and if I were the Braves I would not trade Acuna. Acuna is owed $17M this year, $17M option w/ $10M b/o next year and then $17M option with no b/o in 2028. Essentially 3yrs / $51M. Which is absolutely nuts. I just remember really bad blood in the middle of last year. Maybe I am remembering wrong. Maybe changing managers fixed it.
5-way hypothetical that fills all of Houston’s holes: Astros get: IF Brendan Donovan SS Bryce Rainer RP Huascar Brazobán SP Sonny Gray C Garrett Stubbs RP Ryan Fernandez $10M Tigers get: SS Jeremy Pena RP Enyel De Los Santos Cardinals get: C/1B Josue Briceno IF Max Anderson P James Hicks P JP France Mets get: CF Jake Meyers RP Kaleb Ort Phillies get: OF Jesus Sanchez Roster: LF Donovan 3B Paredes DH Alvarez SS Correa 2B Altuve 1B Walker CF Cole C Diaz RF Smith Bench: Matthews, Stubbs, Allen, Trammell SP: Brown, Gray, Verlander, Javier, Alexander, Pearson RP: Hader, Abreu, Sousa, King, Okert, Brazoban, McCullers Optioned: Salazar, Dezenzo, Whitcomb, Melton, Arrighetti, Blubaugh, Gordon, Ullola, Murray, VanWey, Fernandez IL: Blanco, Wesneski, Walter
Any chance the Dodgers would move Mookie Betts off of SS and back to 2B or RF if they got Pena? Jeremy Pena for Alex Freeland, River Ryan, and Justin Wrobleski. I have Pena making $28M and projected for 10 WAR = $52M trade value for his 2 remaining years. Freeland: (#45 overall and Dodgers #4 prospect) 24 year old switch hitting SS who got a cup of coffee in 2025. MLB pipeline 55 grade = $32M Fangraphs 50 grade = $20M. = $26M trade value. Ryan: 27 year old RHSP was a rookie in 2024 (Dodgers #5 in 2024) and had TJS in August of that year. Expected to be healthy for Spring Training. MLB pipeline 50 grade w/ 5 yrs left = $16.7M Fangraphs 50 grade = $16.7M Wrobleski: 25 yr old Lefty starting pitcher. (Dodgers #16 prospect in 2024) Spent 2025 rookie season mostly in Dodgers bullpen. MLB pipeline 50 gr. w/ 5 yrs left = $16.7M Fangraphs 40 gr. w/ 5 yrs keft = $4.2M Total: Pena: $52M Freeland: $26M Ryan: $16.7M Wrobleski: $10.45M. = $53.15M The Dodgers collect high ceiling proven talent. Adding Pena is exactly what they would do. With Pena and Betts in the fold, Freeland is expendable. Dodgers have an entire all-star roster of starting pitching so will be willing to trade 2 young semi-proven guys who have #2 but not #1 upside. Astros save $9M
Do any Dodgers prospects end up good? Pretty sure they get pumped up so other team's fans don't throw a fit when they get them back for a star.
Very similar to prospects the Astros have traded away. All the performances and scouting are out there though. It's not like the Dodgers are using A.I. to alter the information or fake something. I think its just a by product of 90% of star for prospect trades arecwon by the team getting the star. But that does not mean you stop making them. The alternative is to let the stars walk away for next to nothing. Just gotta have good scouting/GM
What about the 3 on the IL? Walter was nailing it bf he went down. Can Wesneski get it rolling? Blanco was amazing when he was amazing. Started off w no hitters galore! What about these 3? For 2026?
Walter probably will not pitch in 2026. Blanco and Wesneski will probably be on the Javier 2025 plan if all goes well. Wouldn’t expect more than 60 innings total out of them. But they all 3 should be ready to add to the mix in 2027.
The more I look at Houston’s situation the more convinced I am that the only way they can enter the 2026 season without any glaring organizational weaknesses is by trading Jeremy Pena. I think there are only about 5 teams that make sense as trade partners and here’s a hypothetical for each one: Yankees: OF Spencer Jones, SS Dax Kilby, IF Mani Cedeno, SP Luis Gil; Gil becomes Houston’s #3/4 SP, Kilby and Cedeno further stack the lower levels of the farm, Jones enters the corner OF mix competing with Smith, Cole, Melton, Dezenzo, and Sanchez. Blue Jays: SS JoJo Parker, OF Jake Cook, SP Louis Varland, OF Nathan Lukes; Parker becomes Houston’s top prospect and SS of the future, Varland becomes Houston’s SP4 or 7th inning RP, Lukes adds another LH bat competing in the corner OF mix, Cook adds farm depth. Brewers: SS Cooper Pratt, C Jefferson Quero, SP Logan Henderson; Pratt becomes Houston’s top prospect and SS of the future, Quero becomes the backup C and another everyday caliber bat, Henderson becomes the SP3/4. Tigers: SS Brice Rainer, SP Troy Melton, IF Izaac Pacheco; Rainer becomes the top prospect and SS of the future, Melton becomes the SP3/4, Pacheco further bolsters the farm. Braves: P Hurston Waldrep, SS Tate Southisene, IF David McCabe; Waldrep becomes the SP3, Southisene becomes the top prospect and SS of the future, McCabe adds farm depth. Trading Pena also frees up $8M. Houston would then have $30-40M to add a ToR SP and address whatever remaining holes they’d have. Without trading Pena, I see an underwhelming offseason where Houston enters as a projected wildcard team, a bat/arm short and with a crummy farm system.
Now isn't the time to trade Pena unless Dana can bring back a true SP1 and a really good young prospect. Do you think the infield is a championship level infield? Do you believe Cam will improve into an above avg hitter next season? I do. I also believe in giving Cole a chance. Add a couple of SP's through trades/FA, get Yordan healthy and I'll take my chances. Dana has to be smart with his money/evals this offseason though. Do you trust Dana?
Trading Pena leaves the Astros with a huge glaring organizational weakness at the most important defensive position on the team. There are plenty of trades they can make to improve the team that do not leave them weaker in the future. Alvarez could return enough value improve the future of the team for several years. Correa or Paredes are both valuable trade pieces that are wasted by being on the same team. Walker and McCullers are both sucking up money that could be helping strengthen the Astros now and into the future. Either could be traded by adding the right prospects to them. Blanco, Ullola, and Okert are pitchers with value that would not be missed in the least. There are nine outfielders on the forty man roster. Trading one or two of them should not change our future outcome in a negative way. That is just off the top of my head. If I took time to consider it I am sure I could come up with several more.
It kills me to say it but trade Pena. he strikes me as someone who would want to be on a bigger market or legacy team. he’s not going to resign so get something out of him.
Man we look at this team so much differently, I see a team with a top tier defense. Parades, Donovan100 games at 2B, Pena, Correa. Altuve 40 games in LF, 60 games at 2B and 20 at DH, Cole in CF, Smith in RF. That's a good defensive team with a balance of RHB, LHB and has a lot of power. I'm hoping Cam worked on hitting the slider and changed his swing path this off-season. Letting trading Meyers, Sanchez Walker even if they have to eat 10 mil would give Dana another 20 mil to work with.So Dana will have around 40-45 mil to work with. He should be able to add a top line SP and trade for another and stay within budget.
I know what you mean. It's difficult for the Astros to trade a guy that literally helped them win their 2nd ring and is still young and productive enough to be a cornerstone for years to come. Best way to trade him would be to make sure your organization knows that this was done to sustain success, otherwise players will see the signs of a rebuild coming sooner than later and/or may feel the Astros brass will not reward players going forward causing more free agents to spurn the Stros.
Pena has two years left of ARB ('26 + "27). They thought they were close to signing him to an extension earlier this year and he got rid of his agent and signed Boras. Now it appears they're not close and Pena will wait until he's a FA. Would like to hold on to him for the next two seasons, but if they're feeling there's no way to extend him, for the right package (one that would bring you a #2 type pitcher) you have to consider it.
Seems most spurn Htown teams. Except home towners like Clemens and Pettie and Carlos Lee our 100million outfielder.
Lots here: Nolan, Nolan, Noot, Donovan, Gray, Paredes, Bohm, Stott, Cardinals, Astros, Phillies, Bears oh my No, the Houston Astros are not interested in Nolan Arenado this winter. However, they are interested in Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray, and Willson Contreras. Brendan Donovan and Sonny Gray seem like obvious options. Houston will likely explore the market for one-year candidates first; however, if those exceed where they want to go, the Cardinals expect multiple teams to circle back, including Houston, and be in the mix for Sonny. As far as Willson, he was asked about, and there's been a ton of chatter that Houston is shopping Walker and Paredes. It would seem a few things would need to happen on that front. But they're interested. A Houston source has also told me (the same one that helped me break Nolan's veto last offseason) that the St. Louis Cardinals have brought up Isaac Paredes in at least one of those early conversations. The fit for Paredes might not seem like a fit in STL at first glance, and the Cardinals' overall needs are SP, pen help, and possibly a bat with some pop, OF first then INF. However, if Noot or Gorman are dealt, or both, along with Donovan and Arenado, the Cardinals would likely need someone to play 3B. Also, the Cardinals are concerned about Gorman at 3B long term even if they don't trade him, so it's possible they're looking for a hedging option until JJ is ready. Gorman can play 2B. Lastly, the other thing to consider is if all of this goes to plan for St. Louis, and in a world where they traded all three (Donovan, Noot, and Gorman), the Cardinals would find themselves in need of a LHB and a 3B to compete with TS and JJ in the spring for the open INF positions (rumors the Cards want to see JJ get 3B reps too). Another team that could fit this bill could be the Philadelphia Phillies, who are interested in Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan, could also bolster their rotation with Sonny, and desire the type of catching prospects the Cardinals have. They had also previously shown slight interest in Arenado, though that seems to have dwindled during this winter. The Phillies are likely to move Bohm, Stott, or both if they can upgrade, and if the Cardinals become needy and the Phillies wanted a cheap starter, a cheap bat, a catching prospect, or if they wanted to attach one of them with prospects in a bigger deal, Philly and STL are a duo to watch over the next few weeks.
