HOUSTON -- After the Astros traded right fielder Kyle Tucker, one of their cornerstone players, to the Cubs on Friday afternoon, the attention turned to the future of free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman, who may have also played his final game in Houston. Astros general manager Dana Brown said Monday he was optimistic the club could re-sign Bregman, who's been given a six-year offer worth about $156 to return to Houston. Among the players the Astros acquired from the Cubs is Isaac Paredes, an All-Star last season who has played most of his career at third base but has spent time at first base as well. He could be Bregman's replacement. The trade was a stark change of direction for the Astros, who have held on to star players like George Springer and Carlos Correa until they hit free agency walk in free agency. The club felt it wasn't in position to do that with Tucker, considering there was no chance it would re-sign him after '25 and the lack of Major League-ready talent in the Minor Leagues. If the Astros re-sign Bregman, which some in the organization insist is a longshot, they could move Paredes to first base, where he's appeared in 71 games in the big leagues. If Bregman doesn't return to Houston, Paredes could start at third and the club would look to upgrade at first base, where the Astros had the fourth-lowest OPS in the Major Leagues last season. "Pretty much, Alex Bregman's status [remains] the way it is," Brown said Friday. "Nothing has changed since the last time I've talked to you guys. We've been busy with a lot of different things, as I think he's probably been busy trying to find a landing spot. It's still pretty much the same where we were Tuesday." |
By trading Tucker, who was likely to make more than $15 million in arbitration next season, the Astros have some added financial flexibility they could use to make a run at free-agent first baseman Christian Walker or free-agent right fielder Anthony Santander. No matter what, the sentiment is that Houston needs to add another impact bat, whether that's Bregman or another player at the corner-infield spots or right field. The Astros have discussed trading for Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado -- if the Cardinals can eat a substantial portion of his contract -- but Brown doesn't necessarily want to move any more players off the big league roster to get a deal done. "We've said from the outset, we wouldn't take anything off the table," Brown said. "If there is some type of opportunity where we could continue to keep this 2025 club strong and get even stronger in the future, we'll listen. For the most part, we're not aggressively moving towards that direction, but we are listening." |
Bregman and Tucker were taken with the No. 2 and No. 5 overall picks, respectively, in the 2015 MLB Draft. Bregman, taken out of LSU, reached the big leagues in 2016 and became a key member of the Astros' dominance in the AL the last decade. Tucker, drafted out of Plant High School in Tampa, made his debut in '18 and became an everyday player in '20. Astros owner Jim Crane isn't a believer in signing free agents to lengthy deals, and any deal to keep Tucker after next season wasn't going to happen in Houston. Tucker could command $300 million or more in free agency, which would be twice as much as any player has gotten in Astros history. That's why it remains a longshot the Astros can retain Bregman, who became the top free-agent position player on the market once Juan Soto signed his 15-year deal with the Mets earlier this week. Bregman won't get Tucker-type money considering he's three years older and not at his level, but it's growing more likely he'll find a suitor elsewhere. |
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WESNESKI EMBRACES OPPORTUNITY TO START |
The chance to pitch for his hometown Astros was enough to make 27-year-old right-hander Hayden Wesneski excited about being traded from the Cubs on Friday, but when he found out he was going to be in the Houston rotation in 2025, he was thrilled. Wesneski has alternated between the rotation and the bullpen over the last three seasons with the Cubs, posting a 3.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and .215 opponents' batting average in 28 appearances (seven starts) with Chicago last season. He'll join an Astros rotation that's anchored by Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco and Spencer Arrighetti. Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. could return from injury at some point in 2025, too. "I know that being in the bullpen is really hard, and so is starting, obviously, but I'm excited to be a starter," Wesneski said. "That's what I've done for a long time. That's just what I'm comfortable doing. The hybrid role with the Cubs was very interesting and it taught me a lot. It taught me how to prepare on the rotation side and the relieving side. It's one of those things where I did what I had to do. "You have to be a grown man about it, and say, 'Listen, this is what I have to do. I'm throwing in the seventh inning today,' and the way [Cubs manager] Craig Counsell put it -- and I didn't understand until midway through the year -- he kept telling me this: 'You're an outs-getter. You're supposed to get outs. That's what your job is. It's not a starter or reliever or closer. Your job is to get outs, and if it's in the eighth inning, it's in the eighth inning.' That's how I tried to look at it. … It was very tough to do. It's a very tough role to have, but I was glad to be on the big league team. I'm glad to be starting, but the hybrid role taught me a lot." |
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