Astros’ offseason trade mistake poised to look even worse after Jeremy Peña’s injury

Given that the Houston Astros have seemingly turned their season around, Jeremy Peña's injury could not have come at a much worse a time for Houston. They already had to weather being without Peña for a while due to a hamstring injury, and now he is going to be out again just as the team has really gotten going again. However, that isn't the only problem.

The issue here is that with Peña out, SOMEONE has to play shortstop. Braden Shewmake did the job last time (with help from others), and had his moments, but no one realistically thinks he is much of a solution now.

However, Houston's current plan may actually be worse. Not only does it seem extremely likely that the Astros will go with a lot of Nick Allen with Peña out, but in doing so, they are going to be reminded of their mistake in trading Mauricio Dubon along the way.

Trading away Mauricio Dubon feels especially bad now that the Astros have to rely on Nick Allen

Now, there was real wisdom in trading Dubon at the time. Houston needed room on their payroll, and their roster was already crowded. By trading Dubon and his contract away, it did give Dana Brown a little bit of wiggle room, and it cost him a player that was going to struggle to see regular playing time anyway.

However, the reason why super utility players like Dubon are so valuable is due to situations exactly like the Astros find themselves in. While his bat could be infuriating at times, there wasn't a position on the field outside of catcher that Dubon couldn't play in a pinch and probably play it well. Allen is a fine defender usually, but his bat is basically nonexistent, whereas Dubon was a good contact hitter at least.

Unfortunately, those are the breaks. The risk the Astros took by trading Dubon away was one they were willing to take, and it enabled them to sign Ryan Weiss, which is depressing when you say that out loud. Sure, it also helped make room for Tatsuya Imai, and that does matter. Unfortunately, Houston's method of achieving their goals here may have cost them the quality roster depth they need right now.

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