The Houston Astros are in the most uncertain place they’ve been as a franchise at any point in the last decade.
The confusion started this offseason when Alex Bregman walked to the Boston Red Sox and the Astros traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs a year in advance of free agency. This team still hopes to contend, but it’s their least intimidating roster in quite some time.
If the Astros arrive at the trade deadline, how far out of the race would they have to be to consider selling off some of their impending free agents? They’ve got some serious chips to move if that winds up becoming their direction.
The most important name on all Astros fans’ minds is starting pitcher Framber Valdez. The two-time All-Star and 2022 postseason hero will hit free agency ahead of his age-32 season in November, after making $18 million in his final year of arbitration.
On Wednesday, Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer penned a warning ahead of the trade deadline, stating that Valdez’s trade stock was currently trending “down” after a rocky start to the 2025 season.
“It’s not a great look that (Valdez has) already had two dud starts, allowing five runs in five innings on April 2 and seven runs in four innings on April 14,” Rymer wrote. “Further, his strikeout and walk rates are going in the wrong direction.
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“Though his is still better than most, Valdez’s ground-ball rate is also down significantly from 2024. If we were a rival team, these things would have us on guard.”
In fairness, Valdez has only had one bad outing in five starts. He surrendered seven earned runs out of the 14 he’s let up all year in a four-inning start against the St. Louis Cardinals on Apr. 14.
But it’s reasonable to wonder whether Houston should have traded Valdez this offseason after they’d already cut ties with Bregman and Tucker. He could be a major asset if they remain in the playoff hunt, but selling on him with his value at a low would represent a worst-case scenario.
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