3 prospects the Astros definitely shouldn't trade this offseason

The Houston Astros are not known, at least at the moment, for having a particularly robust farm system. That is primarily due to promotions like Cam Smith as well as some notable trades including those for Yusei Kikuchi and Justin Verlander. Making moves for good players comes with a cost and in the Astros' case, that cost came at the expense of their prospect depth. Despite those headwinds, Houston has quietly assembled some real talent down in the minor leagues.

A lot can change between now and the start of the 2025 season and there is always a very real chance with prospects that we don't have completely accurate and/or complete information. However, it does feel like there are a few Astros prospects in particular that the team should hang on to if they can help it.

Here are the Astros prospects that the team should avoid trading this offseason if at all possible

To be clear, the number of prospects that should be actually "untouchable" is a very, very short list. Also, just because guys like Brice Matthews and Walker Janek aren't on this list does not mean that they aren't good players or that Houston should look to move them. Instead, these are guys who either have a level of talent that greatly exceeds what they would likely command in trades for one reason or another and/or could be more valuable to Houston in the short-term than what they would help acquire in a trade.

Xavier Neyens, SS

Xavier Neyens is not a perfect prospect by any means as the track record of first round pick high school bats is very sketchy at best. However, that is precisely why the Astros shouldn't try to trade Neyens because acquiring teams are going to devalue him for his lack of experience and because of that reputation given to prep bat draft picks. Neyens' plus-plus raw power and massive upside is just too good for the Astros to value that low. If there is a team out there that is desperate for him, that is a different situation. As things stand, Houston needs to hold on to Neyens at least until his value is more established and they know exactly what they have in him.

Kevin Alvarez, OF

The story with Kevin Alvarez is very similar to Neyens in that he just hasn't been around long enough or performed against top level competition to be properly valued. The top Astros international signing has been extremely impressive as a professional early on, but the odds that Houston will find a trade partner that won't ding Alvarez too much for being 17 years-old are very small. Again, there are trades where including Alvarez would make some sense, but the Astros should probably sit tight as Alvarez has a chance to be a special all-around talent once he gets a bit older.

Alimber Santa, RHP

Alimber Santa is not a prospect without a track record. In fact, he is a well-known commodity in the Astros system as a relief prospect with big time stuff with questionable control. However, Santa is also already at Triple-A and relief prospects generally don't account for much in trade talks compared to the value they can provide to their clubs. The walks are a concern, but Houston is better off just keeping Santa and seeing if that big-time fastball of his can help their 2026 bullpen and beyond given their expected departures this offseason.

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