Well with our opened salary from Sanchez trade , I'd rather look toward the bullpen than trying to get a LHH OF . I think barring a huge shakeup , we are happy with our OF . I'm curious what we can get for Jake , but I'm ok keeping him and seeing if he gets hot again the beginning of the season. Can we get cade Smith from Cleveland? With Detroit's moves you'd think they have to be selling given the strength of the rest of the AL. What about picking up kopech on the cheap ?
I think Houston traded Sanchez to clear room for a trade deadline deal, and maybe some small space for a veteran C if Salazar struggles.
I could not disagree more. I am not opposed to upgrading the bullpen but am quite happy with it. As it is the bullpen is deep enough that guys like Sousa and Blubaugh may not make the opening day roster. As for the OF, I have hopes, but it would not surprise me at all if none on the current roster finished above average when the season is over. I don't know the "we" you are referring to regarding the OF but I'm certainly not comfortable with the current OF roster.
I’d like to keep Paredes, but understand the logjam. If you can make a good trade, then I’m not going to be too upset. Trading Isaac for a backup catcher and prospects would be a terrible deal, though.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/orioles-exploring-trades-of-coby-mayo-ryan-mountcastle.html Orioles get: CF Jake Meyers 3B Isaac Paredes Astros get: 1B Coby Mayo OF Heston Kjerstad IF Griff O’Ferrell It’s a shame Ryan Mountcastle isn’t a LH OF, because his salary dump would even things out and make Baltimore a much stronger match. But this gives a big infusion of talent to the upper level of Houston’s farm and between Kjerstad, Cole, and Loperfido, Houston should be able to find at least one everyday LH OF. This trade would leave Houston still looking for a bat, but they’d now have young players to trade to a team like St Louis or Minnesota; flipping Mayo for Nootbaar or Wallner would be a fair deal.
I think I meant we in terms of Dana brown. I feel like all of this talk about infield surplus is a smoke show , but little fire If paredes can play second base equal to or better than jose altuve , our infield is very well balanced . He is fine at 3b , should be fine at 1b . We can do a slow ramp up at the beginning of the year for everyone. This thing with espada not being able to figure out PT is overblown. You can have an excel spreadsheet or sit down with pen and paper and figure out how to give everyone 3-5 games a week playing in the infield . Altuve can get 1 game a.week in the OF and 1 at DH Yordan can start off playing 3 out of 4 or something like that . I mean we literally just traded a LH toolsy OF . Brown has spent on starting pitching so far I think if we make moves in the OF , it will be OF for OF and Meyers will be traded for more power and plate production
On paper what you say makes sense, but all 5 infielders and Yordan want and expect to play everyday. There is no place for that unless one of them plays LF almost every day. This is just like the Ryan Pressly situation. They will all say the right things publically, but it will be a fester underneath in the clubhouse. As soon as any of them are ( healthy) sat a 2nd time in a 10 day period or a 3rd time in 3 weeks it will cause issues. The team will underachievers. It will just not quite work but nobody will see any reason on paper.
Who underachieved because of the Ryan Pressly situation? Regardless, that isn't the same situation as this. He lost his role after being one of the best playoff closers in history. No one here is losing their job. You're also assuming no one gets hurt...and let's be real what are the chances that happens considering Altuve and Walkers age plus Yordan and Correa's history? If Paredes isn't traded, Espada has to sit down with all the guys before the season and have a plan so they aren't caught off guard. If he's just randomly sitting guys, especially if one is sitting more than the others, then maybe I can buy into what you're saying here.
Braves need SP. Braves get: P Colton Gordon OF Taylor Trammell Astros get: OF Jurickson Profar $8M ($4M 2026, $4M 2027)
Some trades to round out the roster before opening day: Astros get: OF/1B Pavin Smith Diamondbacks get: 1B Christian Walker $22M Astros get: 1B/OF Alec Burleson Cardinals get: OF Lucas Spence P James Hicks P Jackson Nezuh Astros get: OF Griffin Burkholder 3B Carson DeMartini Phillies get: CF Jake Meyers Opening Day Roster: SS Pena 1B Paredes DH Alvarez 3B Correa LF Burleson 2B Altuve RF P Smith C Diaz CF Cole Bench: Matthews, Vasquez, Allen, Trammell SP: Brown, Imai, Burrows, Javier, McCullers RP: Abreu, King, Okert, Sousa, Lambert, Munoz, Blubaugh, Weiss 10-day IL: Hader, Pearson, De Los Santos 60-day IL: Wesneski, Walter, Blanco Optioned: C Smith, Whitcomb, Dezenzo, Loperfido, Alexander, Arrighetti, Gordon, Murray, Teng, Ullola DFA: Salazar
Not to mention: I think the Pena finger fracture will be more significant than reported or thought. He won't be ready opening day and his production may take months to develop. No trade needs to happen until the trade deadline, which is perfect to see what Walker can do in year #2
Pavin Smith and Alec Burleson project to be significantly better against righties than Cam Smith, Christian Walker, and Jake Meyers. So in terms of projections it would be better. Whether or not it actually would play out that way is debatable.
