Was today’s trade a precursor to another one coming soon?
Today the Astros traded OF Jesus Sanchez to the Toronto Blue Jays for a former Astros fan favorite – OF Joey Loperfido.
Clearly the Astros were sour on Sanchez after he performed poorly both at the plate (.199 AVG with Houston) and in the field, as this deal essentially equates to a salary dump. Sanchez was due to ear $6.8M while Loperfido still makes the MLB minimum $820K. Loperfido also has an option remaining.
With the trade, the Astros now sit close to $15.8M under the first tax line ($244M), and have more flexibility for another deal to bring in a player who would be a lineup upgrade. While a previous fan favorite, Loperfido profiles as a reserve OF capable of playing all three outfield spots.
What does this trade mean going forward?
Right now it means the Astros have a projected starting outfield of Zach Cole in LF, Jake Meyers in CF and Cam Smith in RF. But it’s important to note, that is as of right now.
Astros GM Dana Brown dropped the bomb at the end of his conversation with the media. “We’re not done.”
Now armed with more flexibility under the first tax line, perhaps Brown can now be more aggressive in his pursuit of another left-handed OF bat, possibly one that can play LF every day and set up a RF platoon of Cam Smith and Zach Cole, or lead to a trade of Jake Meyers and a shift of Cole or Smith to CF?
Meyers has been the topic of trade discussion all off-season, as has 3B Isaac Paredes who has been caught in a logjam in the infield with 1B Christian Walker. While the club likes Paredes bat and toughness, Paredes has far more value on the market than Walker does due to his age, contract, production and positional flexibility. Reports have indicated significant interest in Paredes and near none in Walker.
In addition to a left-handed hitting power bat in the outfield, the Astros could also benefit from a backup catcher to replace Victor Caratini and another high-leverage arm in the bullpen due to uncertainty surrounding closer Josh Hader and reliever Bennett Sousa. Hader had a setback in his recovery from a sprained shoulder capsule as he developed bicep tendonitis, and Sousa’s season was cut short due to a flexor/pronator strain in his left elbow.
Sousa also had Thoracic Outlet surgery in 2024 but returned to pitch the best baseball of his career. Thoracic Outlet surgery usually leaves pitchers with diminished stuff, but Sousa was surprisingly at his best.
There isn’t much in the way of a viable backup catcher on the free agent market that would offer an offensive upgrade from Cesar Salazar, so it seems the best way to achieve that would be the trade market. The Astros have been linked to Pirates catcher Joey Bart.
While the Astros didn’t get their final roster truly settled before Spring Training began, it is clear that they are still working on that potential final roster. They’re not done yet.
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