Yup and that is the rub, the Astros are not giving any information on Alvarez and the people around the team are saying privately they don’t know. So it’s hard to predict what Crane will do. I was told that the FO has laid out the numerous possibilities and likely cost and it’s up to Crane how far he is willing to go financially, prospect wise and likely scenarios from an injury perspective. The club has also made it pretty clear on the field the last 2-3 weeks that losing Paredes may have been too much without moves. I do know that what Brown wants to do may not 100% align with what Crane wants to do - Brown wants players under control beyond this year if the cost is elite minor league talent.
These arguments about Tucker are getting stupid. Crane wanted to extend Tucker. Brown and Click both tried. Tucker never wanted to sign an extension. The Astros should have put that energy towards Pena and Valdez and Meyers, but that’s besides the point. The Astros did not go into the 2025 off season trying to trade Tucker. They intended to let him play out the season. However, with all the Soto nonsense, a few teams like NY and Chicago were aggressive and offered premium prices. Brown played them off each other and demanded a lot from NY- Chicago upped their offer, Brown asked for Shaw knowing the Cubs wouldn’t move him, and Cubs countered with Smith (who Brown wanted the most). That is the reason Tucker was traded - and it was an excellent trade for the Astros. Paredes and Smith both have all star upside and are under team control. After the Tucker talks started, the Astros offered Framber in exchange for a massive trade and no one was willing to pay Astros price so Framber is an Astro. There is no conspiracy theory or Astros not wanting to pay Tucker’s arbitration salary - Astros wanted to extend him but were not going to pass up a massive over pay by Cubs for the chance to out bid everyone in FA for Tucker - a guy that views baseball as a job and not a passion.
The Astros trading Framber at this point would take massive balls and would be widely criticized through out baseball for sometime. The White Sox sold their best players while in first place like 20 years ago and it is still not forgotten.
Yancy Diaz and Castro. Keep Framber. See if that sets the table. Or Correa n Castro. Or Yandy D and Brandon Lowe. We may have options in the pipeline.
My guess is they’ve given Crane 3 options: Trade for Correa and go way over the tax. Trade for Suarez and give up big prospects for a rental, but maximize 2025 and stay under the CBT. Trade for Lowe and give up big prospects for a controllable player while staying under the tax, but don’t add the best hitter for this season. I don’t want Suarez. Hes bad on defense, shown he can fall apart, and is gonna cost a lot in prospects.
Daily hypothetical with <4 days left: Astros get: 3B Eugenio Suarez SP Merrill Kelly $3M Diamondbacks get: P Miguel Ullola P Ethan Pecko P AJ Blubaugh P Bryce Mayer OF Chas McCormick Expected playoff roster: SS Pena 2B Altuve DH Alvarez 3B Suarez 1B Walker C Caratini RF Smith CF Trammell LF Melton Bench: Matthews, Dubon, Diaz, Hummel SP: Framber, Brown, Kelly, Javier RP: Hader, Abreu, King, Sousa, Okert, McCullers, Garcia, Arrighetti, Gusto It’s a ton of pitching talent to give up for a couple of rentals, and I’m not sure that would even be enough. I honestly don’t really like this trade for the Astros. Suarez is getting too much hype going into the deadline and he’s gonna get a haul. But this trade improves Houston’s team a lot and keeps them under the tax.
I don’t want Geno either unless the price ends up not being as high as expected. It’s not even his defense that worries me - the guy strikes out way too much and is streaky as hell. There’s a decent chance you get him and he ends up being bad offensively these last two months. Given he is bad defensively, that would be an absolute disaster.
