{"id":280116,"date":"2025-11-13T09:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/280116\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T09:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:42:08","slug":"astros-gm-no-interest-in-trading-isaac-paredes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/280116\/","title":{"rendered":"Astros GM: “No Interest” In Trading Isaac Paredes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Astros appear to have something of a corner infield logjam. They acquired\u00a0Carlos Correa<\/a> at the deadline, and\u00a0Jeremy Pe\u00f1a\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0presence meant Correa needed to move to third base. That made sense while Isaac Paredes<\/a> was injured but is a tougher fit if everyone is healthy. The Astros have\u00a0Christian Walker<\/a> signed for two more seasons at first base. Yordan Alvarez<\/a> remains the primary designated hitter, and the Astros would probably welcome the opportunity to get\u00a0Jose Altuve<\/a> more DH at-bats if they could find them.<\/p>\n

Based on that glut of corner bats, there\u2019s been speculation about the Astros trading an infielder this offseason. Most of that has revolved around Paredes or Walker, but general manager Dana Brown downplayed the idea that the Astros were looking to move either player. That\u2019s particularly true of Paredes, who turned in a .254\/.352\/.458 line with 20 homers in 102 games during his first season in Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was one of the best guys at seeing pitches and working counts and it\u2019s one of the reasons why we went out and traded for him,\u201d Brown told reporters at the GM Meetings on Wednesday (link via Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle<\/a>). \u201cWe need that value in our lineup. It\u2019s the exact direction we\u2019re trying to take it. We feel like if we trade him it would be weakening our lineup. So right now, we have no interest in trading him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paredes was the centerpiece of the\u00a0Kyle Tucker<\/a> return from the Cubs. He ranked fifth on the team in on-base percentage and tied for third in homers despite missing most of the second half with a significant strain of his right hamstring. Paredes returned late in the season but was limited to DH work. Brown said he\u2019s currently at roughly 65% health and will \u201cpotentially\u201d be available for Opening Day (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old\u2019s swing is geared for pull-side pop that makes him an ideal fit in Houston\u2019s Daikin Park, where the Crawford Boxes leave a short porch in left field. The two-time All-Star was an accomplished hitter with the Rays, so it\u2019s not as if he\u2019s only a product of the park, but he\u2019s perfectly tailored even for a lineup that skews very heavily to the right side.<\/p>\n

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects<\/a> Paredes for a $9.3MM arbitration salary. He\u2019ll go through that process once more before hitting free agency during the 2027-28 offseason. There\u2019d be significant interest if the Astros did decide to shop him, likely for starting pitching, but they\u2019re clearly proceeding as if he\u2019ll be in their lineup. Brown said the Astros are not considering him for a regular role at second base, so he\u2019ll be back mostly in the corners.<\/p>\n

While that\u2019d seemingly point in the direction of a Walker trade, the GM indicated that\u2019s not currently under consideration either. \u201cWe haven\u2019t talked about Walker in a trade. Walker\u2019s our everyday first baseman,\u201d Brown said. He\u2019s in a much different spot from Paredes. He\u2019s signed for $20MM annually for his age 35-36 seasons. Walker had a team-leading 27 homers this year, but he hit .238 with a career-worst .297 on-base percentage. The three-time Gold Glove winner also posted uncharacteristically middling defensive grades. Baseball Reference felt he was right around replacement level overall, while FanGraphs had him at one WAR.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the kind of season that would net Walker $20MM per season on a multi-year deal if he were a free agent. The Astros might need to eat around half the money just to move him for a middling return. That would open first base for Paredes and reallocate a bit of payroll room for rotation adds, yet it\u2019d leave them with more dead money on a first baseman right as the\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Abreu<\/a> contract finally comes off the books. The Astros could value Walker\u2019s power and defensive reputation enough to hold him in hope that he rebuilds some value.<\/p>\n

Trading Correa or Pe\u00f1a seems even more far-fetched. \u201cWe\u2019re not really trying to pull from the infield in the trade market, simply because we feel like all those guys are going to be part of the top of our lineup,\u201d Brown said generally. \u201cI think they\u2019re all going to hit somewhere between 1 and 6. So I wouldn\u2019t try to make any moves from the infield standpoint.\u201d That blanket statement probably doesn\u2019t apply to utility players Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas<\/a> or\u00a0Mauricio Dub\u00f3n<\/a>, who are respectively projected for $4.4MM and $5.8MM in their final seasons of arbitration. The Astros could trade or non-tender either or both.<\/p>\n

Brown spoke generally about the Astros bouncing players around the diamond to maximize rest opportunities for their veteran hitters. Correa has never played second base, though he\u2019d presumably be capable of doing so. One speculative option would be to get Correa semi-regular second base work on days when Paredes is at the hot corner. They\u2019ll have Altuve continue bouncing between second base, left field and DH with Alvarez splitting time between DH and left.<\/p>\n

That carries into an outfield that should feature a couple changes. Houston traded for\u00a0Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez<\/a> to add a left-handed bat who could play right field down the stretch. S\u00e1nchez played terribly, batting .199\/.269\/.349 with multiple defensive lapses. He\u2019s projected at a $6.5MM arbitration salary and under club control for two seasons. Chandler Rome of The Athletic<\/a> writes that the Astros are open to trade inquiries on S\u00e1nchez, though it seems more likely they won\u2019t find interest and will simply non-tender him at next Friday\u2019s deadline.<\/p>\n

That\u2019ll likely leave the Astros in search of another left-handed hitting outfielder. Rookies\u00a0Zach Cole<\/a> and\u00a0Jacob Melton<\/a> could factor in but have limited track records.\u00a0Taylor Trammell<\/a> is probably on the roster bubble. Moving on from S\u00e1nchez and adding someone like\u00a0Max Kepler<\/a>,\u00a0Cedric Mullins<\/a> or\u00a0Mike Yastrzemski<\/a> in free agency would make sense.<\/p>\n

Notably, Brown would not commit to second-year outfielder\u00a0Cam Smith<\/a> breaking camp in 2026. The former first-rounder, acquired alongside Paredes in the Tucker deal, hit .236\/.312\/.358 across 493 plate appearances as a rookie. It was hardly a disastrous showing for a player with such limited professional experience, and Smith played an excellent right field despite being drafted as a third baseman. Yet he struggled significantly in the second half (.154\/.247\/.242) and could be due for a look against Triple-A pitching.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw glimpses of it last year, but we\u2019re going to need him to be more consistent,\u201d Brown said (via Rome). \u201cI would think he comes back and tries to play with more consistency and makes the necessary adjustments, but we have to be open to sending him back to Triple-A if he hasn\u2019t turned the corner. \u2026 There\u2019s a lot to be said for guys that work hard in the offseason and then make the necessary adjustments. We\u2019re hoping that Cam does that. If he does that, we\u2019ll be excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Optioning Smith would give the Astros the flexibility to pursue an everyday right fielder.\u00a0Jake Meyers<\/a> should be back as the primary center fielder, though Rome reports that Houston has received a fair bit of trade interest in the 29-year-old. That\u2019s to be expected, as Meyers is a plus defender who is coming off a career year at the plate. He hit .292\/.354\/.373 over 381 plate appearances with dramatically improved strike zone discipline. He\u2019s controllable for another two seasons and projected at a bargain $3.5MM rate. It\u2019s difficult to envision a Houston team already looking for outfielders trading Meyers, but it\u2019s possible another club tries to force their hand by putting a controllable starting pitcher on the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Astros appear to have something of a corner infield logjam. They acquired\u00a0Carlos Correa at the deadline, and\u00a0Jeremy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,3157,48,18282,3971,89008,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-280116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-cam-smith","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-christian-walker","12":"tag-isaac-paredes","13":"tag-jake-meyers","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}