Seems like negotiating 101 is happening. “If you don’t give us the package we want, we don’t actually HAVE to trade him”
I find all of the Chandler Rome and other pieces on the Astros/Red Sox stuff funny. The Astros and Red Sox have been trying to get a deal done for what seems like a month. The Astros preference as I said a long time ago, is Abreu but they would be happy with Duran. The Red Sox have consistently refused to deal either of them for Paredes without other big pieces from Houston going to them. The Astros even were open to moving their top set up man if Boston included more in return - and the response from Boston was to throw in garbage. They have tried bringing in third teams - and the Astros have attempted to as well. So the Red Sox could keep both their outfielders and the Astros would get one from the Cards, Brewers, Phillies and others. Unless Brown folds (which I doubt) or the Red Sox suddenly decide to make Duran/Abreu available - the most likely move is a third team or Paredes starts the season on the Astros. Red Sox have been very aggressive when it comes to handling the Paredes issue.
If the Pirates added Paredes they would have a really really deep lineup. Horwitz, Lowe, O’Hearn, Ozuna, Cruz, and Reynolds are all good hitters. Adding Paredes and Konnor Griffin to that group gives them a real contender’s lineup.
But that's true, no? This isn't some kind of firesale situation where the Astros are trying to get rid of a malcontent or a bad contract. They'd happily keep Paredes around unless they can get a good replacement that's a better fit. It's just weird that people are so upset with the Red Sox because of what random people in the media are saying. The Red Sox and Astros are both doing exactly what they should. The Red Sox are probably asking for more than they can get and the Astros are asking for more than they can get. Maybe they meet in the middle, maybe they don't. But that's how the process should work - both sides get to value their players however they want. Edit: just saw the Red Sox trade. It also would explain why the Red Sox didn't offer more for Paredes. They weren't desperate and were able to get someone good without giving up either of those outfielders. Ultimately, the Red Sox were right and were trading from a position of strength.
Because sports fans. I live in Seattle and was watching the Super Bowl at a bar. The guy sitting next to me was shooting the middle finger at the TV when Mike Vrabel and Robert Kraft were on TV and screaming "FU". I didn't really have the same sentiment but I can understand it from a fans perspective.
I haven't really looked at it as "Red Sox bad", as much as that the Red Sox were not budging on what the Astros needed (an outfielder). The parties even tried getting third teams involved.
Oh absolutely - the teams couldn't find a good fit. It happens. I was just commenting on the posts here about how awful/unreasonable the Red Sox are being in this process, as though their goal should just be to accomodate the Astros.
Understood. I don't think I did a good job in conveying what I was trying to convey -- which was that it wasn't as simple as the Red Sox and Astros trading Paredes for Duran or Abreu. The Red Sox and Astros had different evaluations on the values of the players being discussed, so it wasn't as inevitable as it appeared.
Quick question. If Paredes (or Walker) is traded, who backs up 1B? Caratini and Dubon are gone. I think Dezenzo must be on the team if a trade happens (unless they trade for someone who can play 1B)
Not sure Altuve is the example you want to use. He did, in fact, fall off. He's spent the past two seasons as a high-700s OPS guy instead of being .900+ like he was in his prime. He's a guy who won 3 batting titles who now hits in the .260s. His decline in speed made a huge difference in his defense, to the point they (largely unsuccessfully) moved him off his position. The difference between the two is that Altuve's fall off started from a career peak much better than Walker's. When you drop off close to 100 points from a low .800s OPS guy at an offense-first position like 1B, it makes you barely playable. Even with a good glove. Hall of Fame players can drop off with age and still be productive. Lower tier guys, not so much. I'd be interested in you naming a position player who actually rebounded significantly at Walker's age who isn't a HOF type.
Rosenthal reports that he sees them unlikely to add Paredes 9.5M now that they paid Ozuna 12M. The Pirates look like a longshot now.
I would be surprised if the Brewers didn’t do something at 3B. Their depth chart currently has them starting Jett Williams at SS and Joey Ortiz at 3B. Thats not competitive and with Yelich, Chourio, Woodruff, and Contreras, they’re not in a position to tank. So they are the team that I would expect a deal might come together with. Maybe: Astros get: OF Sal Frelick IF David Hamilton Brewers get: IF Isaac Paredes CF Jake Meyers Hamilton is a LHH UT with speed who has an option year remaining. Frelick is a very good fit for Houston’s lineup and is controlled thru 2029. This seem like a good match but it would require the Brewers liking Meyers more than most teams probably do.
Marcel Ozuna just signed - top story on ESPN MLB. He's 35. 2021 and 2022 were awful and then rebounded to have two of his best seasons of his career in 2023 and 2024. 2025 was mediocre so we'll see what happens. Or look at George Springer this past year. Or Gurriel in 2020 when people thought he was done. Beyond that, I don't really pay attention to random non-great older MLB players and their annual career performance. Not sure why taking out HOFs is a qualification though - they are by definition examples of people who played a long time and played well. But that's all sort of irrelevant - your argument seems to be that anytime an older player has a few bad months, it has to be an age-related decline and there's no hope of rebound. But we know plenty of younger players have bad stretches all the time for non-age related reasons - especially when an injury was involved. Why would older players be immune to the same thing?
Pirates have Jake Mangum, Jack Suwinski, Enmanuel Valdez, and Endy Rodriguez as LH bats they could part with. None of those are big needlemovers or anywhere close to as good as Paredes. But I could be talked into liking a package of Rodriguez, Mangum, and 2 prospects from the 5-12 section of the Pirates prospect list. Stafura and Sanford are good prospects. https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2025/pirates/
in the short term, I don’t believe this helps the Astros very much. If they really don’t believe they are contending for a playoff spot, I guess they could do such a thing. But it doesn’t make sense to be a seller with guys like Altuve, Alvarez, Correa, And Walker on your roster
Yes, there is a bit of smoke that Dana Brown is on the hot seat and if that is the case a deal like that doesn’t make much sense for him. But I feel like if that was the case he would have gotten Donovan or another OF from a team that was truly rebuilding because F the farm system if his job is at risk. It would be really interesting to know what kind of metrics Crane has set for the GM’s job performance. If Brown is truly at risk of being fired in the 2026 team doesn’t win a lot of games, then he should just call the Twins or Cardinals and ask them which prospects they want for their LHH OF. Wallner would be a good add and he shouldn’t cost any drastic even in an overpay.
Everybody has age related decline every damn day. I do, you do, everybody does. That's how life works.
