superaggie73 said:

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Wabs said:

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So, if no more changes to the roster, what are we looking at on opening day?

1. Pena SS
2. Paredes DH
3. Yordan LF
4. Correa 3B
5. Walker 1B
6. Altuve 2B
7. Diaz C
8. Cam RF
9. Meyers CF

One lefty bat, again.....

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I think…if no more roster changes…Cole and Sanchez will platoon with Meyers and Cam for R/L matchups.

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He probably believes someone should/will be traded.

texasaggie2015 said:

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MaxPower said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Well ****

TRADE NEWS: The St. Louis Cardinals are close to finalizing a trade to send All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners, multiple sources tell The Athletic. A third team may be involved.

What we know: https://t.co/TC1K4NysOo

— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) February 2, 2026

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Looks like both the Sox and Astros are being pushed to a trade of necessity.

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The two teams are communicating nearly every day but nothing seems close. That can change fast though. Boston values both Abreu and Duran a lot and the price tag is way higher than the Astros are willing to pay.

I think the odds are 50/50 if you were to ask me today if Paredes will be on the opening day roster. Both sides are motivated to get something done.

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Baseball Trade Values (to give everyone an idea of why there is an imbalance)

Pena - 55.9
Paredes - 12.9
B Abreu - 8.7
Sanchez - 3.1
Walker - (22.8)

Duran - 41.9
W Abreu - 32.3

Based on BTV's value, Paredes and Abreu aren't enough for Wilyer.

Throw in Sanchez, and the difference is still 7.6. I wonder how much salary that requires eating to get even. I'm sure it's less than whatever moving Walker would require.

Thank goodness we won a title trading Wilyer and the other player for a Christian Vazquez rental.

Mr. Awesome Time said:

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Throw in Sanchez, and the difference is still 7.6. I wonder how much salary that requires eating to get even. I'm sure it's less than whatever moving Walker would require.

Thank goodness we won a title trading Wilyer and the other player for a Christian Vazquez rental.

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But why would Boston want Sanchez? They have an excess of left-handed outfielders. That's why they're a good trade partner.

I think we likely need a 3rd team involved. We can send them a major-league player (like Sanchez, Meyers, etc.) and they send Boston prospects.

They could flip him, but your hypothetical makes more sense. Who's taking B. Abreu's spot in the bullpen?

DTP02 said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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The dead space after the super Bowl before the first real spring training games are the worst.

When the super bowl was earlier in the year, there used to be a time where there was nothing but hockey because that one weekend would also be the nba all-star game

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You need some Buckyball in your life.

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Ive gotten way back into disc golf, which I learned to play at Research Park in 1996. Me and 2 of my old man buddies got on the app UDisc back in October. I've played 55 rounds since and waked 113 miles doing it. Lots of fun with low expectations among friends.

A look at the @astros promotional schedule for 2026. pic.twitter.com/cyBMfMXP2s

— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) February 3, 2026

The easy road leads nowhere worth going. #ChaseTheFight pic.twitter.com/HSK0PXWsnc

— Houston Astros (@astros) February 3, 2026

Here’s Keith Law’s Top 20 Astros prospects - https://t.co/cgpARXZ1QL

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 3, 2026

The Astros and Isaac Paredes avoided an arbitration hearing and settled at $9.35 million, source tells @TheAthletic

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 3, 2026

The Astros had their arbitration hearing with Yainer Diaz yesterday in Arizona, source tells @TheAthletic. AP first reported. A decision is expected today. Diaz filed at $4.5 million and the Astros filed at $3 million.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 3, 2026

New @chron — I chatted w/Martín Maldonado last week on an assortment of topics.

One item of note?

Maldonado’s endorsement of Framber Valdez amid a cold free-agent market.

“He's a guy that, you know, like me, he competes. Everyone knows that about him.”https://t.co/9cRLogXSIB

— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) February 3, 2026

Wabs said:

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So, if no more changes to the roster, what are we looking at on opening day?

1. Pena SS
2. Paredes DH
3. Yordan LF
4. Correa 3B
5. Walker 1B
6. Altuve 2B
7. Diaz C
8. Cam RF
9. Meyers CF

One lefty bat, again.....

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Given the age/injury histories of guys like Altuve, Correa, Yordan, Paredes & Walker (age) & the unpredictability of the young guys in the OF I think they should go into the season with something like

1B - Paredes, Walker (in that order)
2B - Altuve, Allen, Paredes (maybe later in the season), Brice (if he's up)
SS - Pena (almost everyday), Allen, Correa if needed
3B - Correa, Paredes
LF - Yordan, Altuve, Cole, Sanchez or ZDZ if they trade Sanchez
CF - Meyers, Cole
RF - Cam, Sanchez, Cole, ZDZ
2 Catchers
DH - Yordan, Altuve, Paredes

I think that's 2 too many position players but two out of Cole/ZDZ/Brice wil be in AAA unless Sanchez is traded.

Get the dorks in the front office to come up with a plan/rotation where Altuve, Yordan, Correa, Paredes and Walker all get days off depending on work load, performance, opposing pitcher, ballpark, our pitcher (fly ball vs ground ball) and combine it with the OF guys in a plan for those guys as well.

I'd much rather have a set "everyday" 9 but the injuries are going to happend and I think it will work itself out naturally if we roll with what we have rather than force/overpay Boston for Duran or Abreu. That's my thoughts!

Joe Espada said Cam Smith will play some CF this spring.

Also, Lance McCullers Jr. threw a bullpen today and will be built up as a starter, of course.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 3, 2026

#Astros GM Dana Brown said Shay Whitcomb (Korea) & Zach Dezenzo (Italy) will play in the @WBCBaseball . (And Jeremy Peña, too. Said Yainer Diaz is still up in the air as far as he knows)

— Adam Wexler (@AdamJWexler) February 3, 2026

Dana Brown "We feel like we put together and built a nice roster and with the arms we added -- four starters and two relievers -- our guys are really locked in. We have a good combination of youth and a good combination of veterans."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 3, 2026

GM Dana Brown: "My mission this year again is continue to win. Anything short of winning, I put all of the blame on myself. I'm not afraid to take all the responsibility."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 3, 2026

Paredes avoiding arb is very interesting. Astros are typically a file and trial operation. Maybe they were motivated to lock in his salary due to trade conversations.

Dana Brown said that the Astros are interested in bringing back Framber Valdez

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) February 3, 2026

JBAB said:

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Wabs said:

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So, if no more changes to the roster, what are we looking at on opening day?

1. Pena SS
2. Paredes DH
3. Yordan LF
4. Correa 3B
5. Walker 1B
6. Altuve 2B
7. Diaz C
8. Cam RF
9. Meyers CF

One lefty bat, again.....

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I'd much rather have a set "everyday" 9 but the injuries are going to happend and I think it will work itself out naturally if we roll with what we have rather than force/overpay Boston for Duran or Abreu. That's my thoughts!

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I don't think every day 9s are the best option unless you have nothing but platoon-proof players.

If we're facing a righty, I fully want Yordan, Sanchez, and Cole playing every single time. I wish we have more lefty options. We cannot keep letting RHP take our lunch money. We had a 92 wRC+ vs RHP last year. Do you want to know the last time we were 92 or lower? 2013 - 83 wRC+ with 111 losses.

Looking back, we had entirely too many unplayable players playing vs RHP and LHH who somehow forgot how to hit RHP.

• Brendan Rodgers - 102 PA - 43 wRC+
• Mauricio Dubon - 283 - 67
• Cam Smith - 356 - 75
• Jesus Sanchez - 143 - 66 (career 111 wRC+ vs RHP)
• Taylor Trammell - 119 - 71 (career 94 wRC+ vs RHP)

If you replace those 1003 PA @ 68 wRC+ with something bad like 85 wRC+, we probably make the playoffs.

With that slogan *maybe we'll see a good brawl or three in the AL West this season.