If owner Jim Crane is still loathe to cross the luxury tax line, the front office won’t have much flexibility to add free agent starting pitching. Chandler Rome of The Athletic writes that it is indeed more likely that the club will address the rotation via trade. One of the weakest farm systems in the league won’t do them any favors, so they may consider trading from the MLB roster to achieve that.
Houston is reportedly open to trading a standout defensive midfielder Jake Meyers for pitching. Meyers is coming off a career-best season and has been controllable through arbitration for two seasons. He’s the top trade chip in Houston’s outfield, but he’s not the only candidate to transfer this offseason. Rome reports that the Astros have received interest from other clubs in the right fielder Jesus Sanchez also.
That could explain why Sánchez remains on the roster at all. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him at a salary of $6.5 million in his third of four trips through the arbitration process. It came as a surprise that Houston offered him a contract. Sánchez had a very poor finish to the 2025 season, hitting .199/.269/.342 over 160 plate appearances after being acquired from Miami at the trade deadline. Combined with rising salaries and wage restrictions, it made him a non-tender candidate.
General manager Dana Brown acknowledged during last month’s GM Meetings that he was open to trade questions about Sánchez. Even if they aren’t particularly interested in paying him $6-7MM, it seems like they found enough interest that they weren’t willing to let him go without anything in return.
Sánchez isn’t going to provide a mid-rotation arm, but it’s possible they trade him for a back-end starter. Teams like the Royals, Pirates, Guardians and Phillies could be on the lookout for a corner outfielder on the trade market. Although Sánchez never lived up to his reputation as a top player, he was an excellent everyday player during his time with the Marlins. He was an average hitter in the league between 2021 and the ’25 deadline, hitting .246/.312/.432 in nearly 1,900 plate appearances. He has plus bat speed and generally has strong exit velocities, although his batted ball stats also collapsed in Houston.
Even if the Astros are unlikely to trade Sanchez for their biggest rotation pick-up of the offseason, a change of scenery would create a bit of spending room. Trading both Sánchez and Meyers would leave them very thin in the outfield, and trading the former would take away one of their few left-handed bats. While Dana Brown has already said they are not interested in a move Isaac Paredesthat might be something the front office will have to consider later in the offseason if they can’t find a mid-rotation arm through other means.
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