Astros need to trade an infielder, but the one they should move is not who you expect

It's no secret that the Houston Astros need to move an infielder this winter. Between Carlos Correa, Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes, and Yordan Alvarez, there are four bodies for three spots if you include DH.

At the same time, the Astros have a lot of holes elsewhere that need to be filled. The biggest area of concern is the starting rotation. Despite Framber Valdez saying he'd like to be back in Houston, it's likely not in the cards for a multitude of reasons, with financial being at the top of the list.

What Houston would love to do then is trade away Christian Walker to free up first base for Paredes while getting some salary relief. While that seems like an easy answer to the club's prayers, it's not. After a poor year at the plate and now entering his age-35 season, the two years and $40 million Walker is owed make him far from a bargain. On top of that, he has a limited no-trade clause that will make him even harder to move. Therefore, the best answer to the infield conundrum is to trade someone else.

Astros' best path to solving their infield logjam means trading Isaac Paredes instead of Christian Walker

It sounds crazy, right? Paredes was one of the jewels of the Kyle Tucker trade, and he was so good until his injury sidelined him for most of the second half, but that's exactly why this works.

In a potential Walker deal, the Astros are looking at eating the bulk of his money in order to get a lottery ticket or two back. They can accomplish the same cost savings while actually getting something of value that can help fill a hole on the big league roster in 2026 if they were to trade Paredes instead.

Under team control through 2027, Paredes is projected to make $9.3 million in arbitration. His 2027 salary then would be upwards of $10 million, meaning the Astros could save roughly the same amount of money by moving on from him as they would in a potential Walker deal.

However, Paredes will have a much more robust market. Not only is he cheaper and ascending while Walker's 2025 season would have you believe he's on the decline, but his ability to play either third base or first base expands his market, while Walker's limited veto power further limits his.

The Astros are trying to infuse youth while competing, and with Hunter Brown as the only reliable starter under contract for 2026, Paredes could be swapped for a young, cost-controlled rotation arm with upside.

There's more to this proposal, though, and it involves Christian Walker. As lost as he seemed at times last season, he actually finished the season on a high note, and the sample wasn't all that small. In the second half, Walker slashed .250/.312/.488. That's a .799 OPS, which was fueled by a .238 isolated slugging percentage, which was a big step up from the .145 ISO he posted prior to the All-Star break.

Walker was one of the few Astros who were healthy all year, but he did deal with an oblique issue in spring training. Oblique injuries haven't been uncommon for him, and the last time he dealt with them for a prolonged period of time was in 2021, when he was limited to just 115 games and hit just 10 homers with an 88 wRC+. He'd respond in 2022 with a career-high 36 homers and a 122 wRC+.

Purely speculation, but given what we know about the mishandling of injuries caused by the Astros' training staff, it's not unreasonable to think that lingering effects may have impacted his first-half performance, and that his second-half surge is reason to believe in a bounce-back in 2026.

Even if you're not sold on a Christian Walker return-to-form next season, it's plain to see that what Paredes can bring back in a trade is much greater than what Walker will, and trading Paredes ultimately gives you a greater whole, which is all that matters at the end of the day.