Unconventional buy side trade for improving the roster: Astros get: OF Wilyer Abreu RP Garrett Whitlock Red Sox: OF Cam Smith P Ethan Pecko P AJ Blubaugh P Bryce Mayer Astros get controllable stars for the OF and bullpen and give up their most valuable young pitcher and position player. Resulting roster: SS Pena DH Alvarez 3B Paredes RF Abreu 1B Walker 2B Altuve LF Loperfido CF Meyers C Vazquez Bench: Shewmake, Diaz, Matthews, Cole SP: Brown, Arrighetti, Teng, Lambert, Burrows, Imai RP: Hader, Whitlock, King, Abreu, Okert, Pearson, De Los Santos
The 2025 thread keeps getting bumped and it’s killing my OCD. Here’s my current rough expectation for the Astros deadline. I think Houston will be more aggressive than normal due to various factors (the wide open AL, Brown’s job status, the looming lockout). Astros get: OF Masataka Yoshida $13M ($5M 2026, $8M 2027) Red Sox get: P Brandon McPherson P Michael Knorr Astros get a lefthanded corner OF with another year of control. They add a Japanese teammate for Imai. Yoshida’s contact-oriented profile also complements the lineup. The cost is also very low. Astros get: SP Casey Mize Tigers get: P Cole Hertzler OF Joseph Sullivan Astros get a rental #3 SP. Tigers get 2 decent prospects from the 10-20 range on Houston’s list. Astros get: OF Luis Robert Jr. RP Devin Williams $19M ($10M 2026, $9M 2027) Mets get: OF Jake Meyers P AJ Blubaugh C/1B Will Bush Astros get an upside play in CF and a controllable RH setup man. Mets get Meyers (who Stearns probably likes), Blubaugh, and a prospect. Resulting playoff roster: SS Pena DH Alvarez 3B Paredes 1B Walker 2B Altuve LF Yoshida CF Robert RF Smith C Diaz Bench: Allen, Vasquez, Trammell, Matthews SP: Brown, Mize, Lambert, Imai RP: Hader, Williams, King, Okert, Abreu, De Los Santos, Javier, Blanco, Arrighetti IL: McCullers, Correa, Walter DFA: Shewmake, Pearson, Wade, Alexander Optioned: Sousa, Burrows, Gordon, Santa, Ullola, Teng, VanWey, Wesneski, Delgado, Price, Whitcomb, Dezenzo, Cole, Loperfido
