Astros’ 2026: If you were GM for a day…

In the comment section of our last post, a friend of the blog, Steven, wrote a detailed comment on what he would do with the Astros if he were the GM. Our other friend of the blog, Sarge, recognized this as a great topic for our next post, and here we are.

You can go back to the last post and read the whole of Steven’s comment or you can read this long excerpt….

• “Move 1 – I’m trading Yordan Alvarez to the San Diego Padres for Kash Mayfield, Ethan Salas and Jose Espada. The last is throw in because of how I plan on treating the 8th spot in the pen and I really want Joe Espada to call for Joe Espada out of the pen. This is to clear the DH spot for Altuve and salary relief. We won 87 games last year basically without him.
• Move 2 – I’m trading Isaac Paredes, Steven Okert and Walter Janek to the Red Sox for Wilyer Abreu and Connor Early. So please Arizona give Breggy what he wants, take him in, and create need.
• Move 3 – I’m going to assume the guys from the podcast are right and the Tigers will indeed give me Eduardo Valencia for Jesus Sanchez.
• Move 4 – Cristian Javier to the Giants for Luis Matos. This is mostly a salary dump.
• Move 5 – After freeing up a bunch of money, I am giving Kyle Tucker 10/350, not for nostalgia but because I really think he is what this lineup needs the most and I believe he will be more durable than most going forward.
• Move 6 – Brice Matthews, Spencer Arrighetti, AJ Blubaugh and Jake Meyers to the Cards for Brendan Donovan and Jose Fermin.
• Move 7 – re-sign Caratini. Or just live with Valencia and Salazar, but there is depth with Caratini being signed.

My lineup – SS Pena, 2B Donovan, RF Tucker, 3B Correa, LF Abreu, 1B Walker, DH Altuve, C Diaz, CF Smith. Three lefties. Altuve out of the field. Dezenzo makes this squad and sees plenty of playing time between all 4 corners. Fermin gives you a great option in case of significant playing time needed in the infield due to his walk rate, or Allen can make the roster as a defensive guy. Matos should find at bats with this outfield, and Caratini goes back to doing what he does, a lefty bat that catches a bit, DH’s a bit, plays a little first, and gives us an experienced pinch hitter that we’ve seen handle the role in the past.

You’ve still got Cole, Valencia, Salazar, Trammell, Whitcomb, Allen or Fermin, stored at AAA.

My rotation – Brown, Imai, Burrows, Weiss, Early, and (ugh) LMJ to start. LMJ will get those first 5 starts while they are in a six-man to prove his worth. Alexander makes the pen as the swing/long man. Of course, I’ve got Hader, Abreu, and King, joined by Sousa and De Los Santos. The last two slots are open competition, but will be a shuttle that includes Pearson, Roa, Munoz, Ullola, Murray, Gordon, France, Espada, based on what the team needs, and they all have options. The only issue on the bullpen swing between Daikan and Constellation is the 40-man, where two of those guys are going to start off it, presumably Pearson and Roa, since they are on minor league deals already.”

So, your assignment, for whatever depth you wish to go, is to outline what moves you would make if you were GM for a day (or however long it would take.

Steven – since you already did this assignment – if you wish to do something else, you are welcome to critique the other folks or perhaps tell us what you would do if you were Jim Crane for a day or so.

Thanks, folks, ahead of time.