Short of the dodgers, most teams are going to go into the season with some questions. Theoretically, getting a solid outfielder at the deadline should be among the cheaper acquisitions next to a bullpen guy. (assuming they're all rentals).
David Robertson is a free agent. He had a 3.00 ERA last season, 1.11 WHIP, 99k in 72 IP. He's really old but he's been consistently good and durable for 3 years running. Honestly, he's been very good his entire career. If they needed a FA reliever, he's there for the signing. He's made $10m a season for awhile though, I'm guessing he wants similar.
Yeah he turned down a $7M mutual option so it would seem to be safe to assume he’s looking for at least $8M (although I doubt he gets it).
The turn down triggered a $1.5m buyout, so he only really "lost" $5.5m. Anything above that is a net benefit, I believe, for him. It's not my money, but I think he'd be a worthwhile signing at $6m - $7m. Not sure how close that would put us to the tax. I expect someone will need a RP this season and sign him to a decent amount.
I believe Paredes is the Astros 3rd baseman for at least the next 3 years, possibly the next 5 or 6 years.
Cam's defense at 3rd just is not good enough to take that position away from Paredes. At least he makes sense in the OF.
He's the only weakness on defense and the longer he's in LF the better he should get. People were saying the same things when Biggio transitioned to the OF. Altuve is every bit the athlete Biggio was.
