4 creative ways the Astros can plug second base with Mauricio Dubón moving on

There was never any shot that the Houston Astros carried both Mauricio Dubón and Ramon Urias on the 2026 roster. The pair overlapped a great deal, and their combined salary would've made the budget to attack other needs tight.

However, Jose Altuve will likely spend a decent amount of time in left field, meaning a "part-time" starter at second is needed. Nick Allen, the player the Astros acquired for Dubón, replaces the defensive prowess Houston lost in the deal, but his career 53 wRC+ shows his bat isn't up to snuff for regular playing time.

So now, with this new hole opened, the Astros need to figure out a different solution. Here are four creative ways they could go about it.

Four paths the Astros could take to solve second base

1. Scrap Altuve in left field altogether

The original idea of making Altuve a left fielder didn't go according to plan, with the 35-year-old playing more games at second (66) than he did in left (47). While lightening his defensive load makes a lot of sense, it might not be feasible given what the Astros have to spend and the importance of their other needs.

Altuve is no longer a plus defender at second, but the metrics disagree as to just how bad he was in 2025. Defensive runs saved didn't like him, giving him a -8 mark in 499.1 innings. Outs above average, however, pegged his performance as, well, pretty much average, coming in at zero.

He'll still need his DH days now and again, but if he can handle the lion's share of the keystone work, the Astros can use their newfound cash to add to the pile they'll use to fix the rotation and find a left-handed bat.

2. Trade for Brendan Donovan

Dubón and Urias were each slated to make around $5 million in arbitration, which is the same amount as Brendan Donovan is expected to command as he goes through the process. Bringing him in while losing those two would still leave the Astros with roughly $5 million more in the coffers than they were originally projected to have.

The Astros were reported to have interest in Donovan, and that was before the utility man purge. With a career 119 wRC+, Donovan is a sizeable upgrade over the departed infielders, and his defense is solid with a utilityman Gold Glove award back in 2022.

Donovan is a very good player, and a combo of him and Allen serving as the key bench pieces would be a more balanced approach. The Astros wouldn't maximize their savings here, but they still save some while adding a quality player who also happens to hit left-handed, providing yet another solution. That would be worth the investment.

3. Hand the reins over to Brice Matthews

This is the riskiest path they could take, but it also might provide the most upside. Brice Matthews is MLB Pipeline's top Astros prospect and comes in at No. 93 on the top-100 list. He primarily plays second base, but has experience at shortstop, third base, and center field throughout his minor league career.

The 23-year-old's performance at Triple-A Sugar Land was mostly positive, with a .260/.371/.458 line with 17 homers. There is one major concern, though. Matthews draws walks at a high level, with a 14.1% free pass rate; however, his contact skills are a concern. His contact rate hovered around 67%, and those swing-and-miss tendencies, both in and out of the zone, led to a 27.9% strikeout rate.

Matthews got a desperation call-up in 2025 as the team was ravaged by injuries, and those concerns reared their ugly heads as he struck out a whopping 42.6% in his 13-game big league stint. The sample size was small, so that doesn't immediately disqualify him, but it is worth noting.

A Matthews promotion could have a high ceiling, and it allows the Astros to spend their new savings on other areas, but the floor is also very, very low.

4. Solve their corner infield logjam by playing Isaac Paredes at second (once healthy)

The Astros' trade deadline moves put them in a bind in more ways than one. Isaac Paredes' untimely hamstring injury forced Dana Brown to make the move for Carlos Correa, but now Correa, Paredes, and Christian Walker are all fighting for two spots. A Walker trade isn't likely given his down year and high salary, and Paredes likely can't be traded as his recovery puts his status for opening day in jeopardy.

Once healthy, having him share second base duties with Altuve could alleviate the roster crunch. The 26-year-old last played second in 2023 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays, and while his career sample is small, just 456.2 innings, his performance hasn't been bad with four career outs above average and -1 defensive run saved.

This way, Houston can have all of their big bats in the lineup at the same time, though there will likely be a few weeks between opening day and Paredes being ready to return to the lineup, and the defense could suffer. Still, this maximizes the current roster while giving Dana Brown as much flexibility as possible to add other pieces.