Astros’ offseason: What’s left to do?

The Astros have been active with an almost singular focus this offseason.

Other than unloading a few position players (Mauricio Dubon, Chas McCormick, Ramon Urias and possibly Victor Caritini) their focus has been on beefing up their starting pitching.

This included the signings of Japanese ace Tatsuya Imei, Korean league ace Ryan Weiss, swingman Nate Pearson (though he hasn’t been a starter for a while), and a trade for young, controllable Mike Burrows from Pittsburgh.

Currently, Spotrac projects the Astros to go over the luxury tax by an estimated $4.5 million. This does not account for potential trade-offs in salaries. Rumors have included everyone from Isaac Paredes (~$9 million) to Jake Meyers ($3.5 million) and to Christian Walker (whatever part of $20 million per year for two years you can get someone to swallow).

Whether the Astros stay under the luxury tax or not, there are still some things to potentially do in this off-season.

• Fill the backup catcher spot – Caratini is a current free agent, who one would think is looking for more playing time than he saw with the Astros. Internally, the Astros have Cesar Salazar, who in small samples has given typical backup catcher numbers in the majors (.232 BA/ .318 OBP/ .586 OPS). Collin Price was so-so with decent power at AAA – .235 BA/ .323 OBP/ .757 OPS/ 18 HRs / 60 RBIs in 2025. 1^st rounder (2024) Walker Janek has hit well, but has not played above A ball. On the market are the usual suspects for backups like Mitch Garver, Christian Vazquez, and Austin Hedges (and Caratini).                                                                        

The totally unscientific guess here is that they will fill from within.

• Address the overloaded infield/DH positions – The Astros don’t technically have to do anything here, but as they stand now, they don’t have enough ABs to go around between Yordan Alvarez, Christian Walker, Jose Altuve, Jeremy Pena, Carlos Correa, and Isaac Paredes. It seems like Paredes may be the top candidate to get some strong return in a trade, the rumor being that the Red Sox might pivot to him now that Alex Bregman has signed with the Cubs. The Astros might like to trade Walker, but they would not get much back for him, and it would be more of a salary dump.                                                                                

The totally unscientific guess here is that they will trade Paredes – potentially for a big arm to help them down the road in the playoffs.

• Find a veteran left-handed hitting outfielder – Again, it is possible the Astros don’t do anything here. They tried doing this at the trade deadline and ended up with Jesus Sanche,z who stunk at the plate and in the field the last couple months of the season. Perhaps they will see if Zach Cole still contains the spark he brought to the team at the very end of 2025. Or maybe they will let Cole get his feet wet at AAA after only 51 ABs at Sugar Land last season. They could also see if they can grab a bargain off the free agency heap before Spring Training.

The totally unscientific guess here is that they will do nothing here, see if Sanchez can give them better numbers and if that does not work pivot to someone like Cole.

• Continue pursuing starting pitching assistance – You can never have too much pitching we are told over and over and the Astros’ injury luck in 2024 and 2025 emphasized that point. Maybe they do pick up another starter in a trade of Paredes. Maybe they grab some gem that no one else wants ala Jason Alexander in 2025. Maybe they decide that A.J. Blubaugh is ready to fill the 6^th man in the rotation spot.

The totally unscientific guess here is that they will go with what they have right now – Astros’ 2026: What do the latest starting pitching moves mean? – ALL THINGS ASTROS.

If they need more assistance they can always do something at the trade deadline or wait until the return of Ronel Blanco and/or Heyden Wesneski to fill a spot or two.

• Add to the bullpen depth – Dana Brown in his short time in the GM seat has done a good job of picking up relievers with spotty or non-existent resumes and turning them into viable or even critical parts in the bullpen. That has included, Steven Okert (picked up as a $1.2 million free agent), Bennett Sousa (picked up off waivers). Tayler Scott (signed as a minimum wage free agent) and Bryan King (technically picked up off waivers one month before Brown’s hiring).

The totally unscientific guess here is that Brown and his scouts will continue to look under every rock for bargain basement bullpen assistance.

Are there other things/positions you think they should be pursuing in this off-season?