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4 Astros players that they really need to consider trading away this offseason
The Astros have a relatively thin farm system, so if they are going to upgrade their roster this off-season, they'll need to trade from the big league roster. Here are four players they need to trade.
The stakes are high in Houston this off-season. The Astros just watched their in-state rival win a World Series as a result of their own complete inability to win a playoff baseball game at home. If the Astros could have back-doored their way into even one win at Minute Maid against the Rangers, they'd have likely overwhelmed the young and happy to be here Arizona Diamondbacks.
Alas, the Astros have a manager to hire, a roster to tweak, and a divison rival to catch as the toast of the league. If the Astros are to tweak their roster, and if Jim Crane's reluctance to sign big free agents remains, and there is no reason to expect that would change, they will need to get creative with trades.
4 Astros players to trade away this offseason
With a thin farm system, Houston will likely need to trade from their big league roster. Though injuries tested them this year, they do have a surplus of starting pitching and need to figure out what they're going to do in their outfield.
If Houston is going to land a name like David Bednar or Freddy Peralta, they'll need to part with some proven big-league players, as well as some big-league ready talent. Let's look at their off-season trade candidates.
#1 José Urquidy
José Urquidy has been a part of three Astros teams that have made a World Series, and with a 1.23 ERA in five World Series games, he's actually one of the best pitchers in World Series history.
Yet Urquidy is often the forgotten man from the Astros Golden Era. In his career, Urquidy has a 3.98 ERA, and even that was inflated due to his injury-riddled 2023 season. From 2019 to 2022, Urquidy posted a 3.74 ERA and 1.09 WHIP.
As a testament to how good Houston has been, he often still was their sixth starter, but those are numbers many teams would ask for from their #3. Urquidy comes with two more years of team control, and he's got plenty of playoff experience.
His name has been thrown about for years now as a potential candidate, including the infamous agreed-upon trade of Urquidy for Willson Contreras that Dusty Baker vetoed at the 2022 deadline.
With Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia both due back at some point in 2024, a full season of Justin Verlander, and Spencer Arrighetti knocking on the big league doorsteps, this off-season is the time to move off of Urquidy in a package for an upgrade.
#2 Jake Meyers
Jake Meyers, through no real fault of his own, has fallen out of favor in Houston. He's never really been the same since his injury in the 2021 ALDS ended his breakout, but he's still a very athletic center fielder that plays elite defense.
He's an average big league hitter with some questionable Statcast metrics, but guys like Kevin Kiermaier have made their living as average at best defenders that bring world class defense in center field.
Meyers does just that.
While he's not going to beat out Chas McCormick in Houston, plenty of teams could use Meyers patrolling center. He's under team control through 2027. Rather than let him pick up splinters behind both McCormick and Dubón, Houston should move off of Meyers this off-season in a trade.
#3 Corey Julks
The fact that Corey Julks got 298 at-bats while Yainer Diaz couldn't get into the lineup for the first three months of the season will remain one of the biggest mysteries of the Astros 2023 season. There is some silver lining in Julks getting so many at-bats, however.
He did give himself some trade value.
After going unclaimed in Rule 5, even after hitting 31 bombs at the AAA level, Julks put together a respectable .245 average with 6 home runs and a .650 OPS. A brutal slump at the end of his first big league appearance made those numbers much worse than the season he strung together.
Make no mistake, Julks had no business picking up over 300 plate appearances on a contending big league team. But he showed he could hang at the big league level, and upon heading back to AAA, Julks put together in 29 games. Julks on his own won't land a game-changer, but he's a fringe big-leaguer that doesn't provide the Astros nearly enough value in the organization as he would via a trade. Package Julks with Urquidy or Meyers and prospects and you may be on your way to a decent return.
#4 Rafael Montero
The Rafael Montero contract is already a great hindrance to the Astros. Last year, on the back of one strong 2022 season, the Astros gave Montero a three-year deal worth elite closer money. Montero responded to his $11.5 million deal with a 5.08 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, and a -0.4 bWAR.
Needless to say, that is not money well spent. Hector Neris, Phil Maton, and Ryne Stanek all hit free agency this offseason, and Dana Brown conceded that all three are likely gone, leaving the Astros looking for bullpen help.
The Astros have to rebuild their bullpen, find a backup catcher, increase arbitration payments for names like Tucker and Valdez, and create some cap space for extensions for Altuve, Bregman, and others.
Simply put, they can't do it with Montero in the fold. Whatever it takes to get Montero off the books, the Astros have to do it. Tag on a couple of mid-tier prospects and pay down his contract. Use the money you're saving on JV through New York to offset the cost.
Either that, or it's time for Crane to blow past the CBT. If he continues to avoid it every year, Montero can't be in Houston. It would take a lot of work, but whatever it takes, the Astros have to move Montero.
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