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The Houston Astros swung the biggest trade of the offseason this past winter, shipping former All-Star Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs. Houston received a solid package in return with most of the focus centered around the Cubs' first-round pick from 2024, Cam Smith. Though Smith has done enough during his rookie campaign to maintain a spot in the Astros lineup, Isaac Paredes has been an absolute stud during his first year in Houston.
Paredes was the forgotten man in the Tucker trade. Obviously most of the focus was, and should've been, on Tucker himself. The Cubs were taking a gamble by giving up their top prospect along with a back-of-the-rotation pitcher, and bat-first third baseman in exchange for only one guaranteed year of Tucker. So far, the deal has worked out well for Chicago.
But Houston has to like their end of the deal as well. While Smith made the Astros Opening Day roster, he was never expected to be an impact player in Year 1 with Houston. Smith's spring performance catapulted him into a bigger role than many expected, and opinions are mixed through the first two months about whether or not Houston made the right choice calling him up when they did.
Astros quietly filled a glaring hole in Kyle Tucker deal, and it was Isaac Paredes, not Cam Smith
But no one is going to gloss over how much Paredes has meant to Houston in the early-going. In fact, his start to the season has revealed why the Astros were so high on him at last year's trade deadline.
Paredes has been as good as advertised; maybe even better. Heading into Friday night's game against the Seattle Mariners, Paredes was hitting .264/.374/.473 with a team-leading 10 home runs, 149 wRC+, and 2.2 fWAR.
It can't go unnoticed either that Paredes' addition to the roster this past winter filled the Astros' biggest hole — third base. Alex Bregman, despite all the whispers and rumors throughout the offseason, was never coming back to Houston. Though some thought there'd be a drop-off defensively after losing their Gold Glove Award-winner to the Boston Red Sox, Paredes' 3 outs above average (OAA) is higher than Bregman's 1 OAA this season.
Smith may be the future, but Paredes is the present. Seeing as how Houston lost so much this offseason with the departures of Tucker and Bregman, the Astros fanbase is certainly thankful to have Paredes in the fold for the next couple of years.