The Houston Astros could still make some moves before the 2026 MLB season gets here.
Free agency is mostly finished up for teams, so trades could loom large for anyone looking to make improvements.
ESPN’s David Schoenfield put out a new article on Friday in which he comes up with trades that would make sense to happen sooner rather than later. He gets the Astros on there multiple times.
One of the deals is with the San Diego Padres. That proposal would send first baseman Christian Walker with cash to the Padres for minor league righty Bradgley Rodriguez.
“After finishing 28th in home runs in 2025, the Padres need more power, and with Walker at first, they can slide Jake Cronenworth on a full-time basis over to second base,” Schoenfield writes. “The current alignment doesn’t project well, with the Padres ranking 28th in FanGraphs’ projected WAR at first base (a mix of Gavin Sheets and Cronenworth) and 20th at second base (a combo of Cronenworth and Sung-Mun Song). Rodriguez is a big-league ready reliever who can help a Houston bullpen that is a little thin from the right side beyond Bryan Abreu.”
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The Astros would certainly get out from Walker this way while he still has a bit of value, rather than waiting too long.
The other suggestion is a deal with the Los Angeles Angels which would send Jake Meyers from Houston and bring back Josh Lowe.
“While this is hardly a blockbuster, it solves a problem for both teams,” Schoenfield writes.
