MaxPower said:

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The San Diego Padres are nearing an agreement with the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies to acquire INF C.J. Abrams and “OF” Nick Castellanos
LHP Andrew Painter and 1B Kale Fountain headed to Washington, LHP Yuki Matsui to Philadelphia in the deal, per @JennaTolles pic.twitter.com/p0eazDW1L3

— Christmasin July (@cjwalters4242) February 11, 2026

Padres didn't give up much, though I guess they have to pay Castellanos.

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That has to be a troll account. No way Washington takes a package that small for Abrams. And no way Philly would give up Painter just to get rid of Castellanos.

MaxPower said:

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The San Diego Padres are nearing an agreement with the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies to acquire INF C.J. Abrams and “OF” Nick Castellanos
LHP Andrew Painter and 1B Kale Fountain headed to Washington, LHP Yuki Matsui to Philadelphia in the deal, per @JennaTolles pic.twitter.com/p0eazDW1L3

— Christmasin July (@cjwalters4242) February 11, 2026

Padres didn't give up much, though I guess they have to pay Castellanos.

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The Padres were a possibly landing spot for Walker or Isaac to play first.

Clearly fake. Andrew Painter is a RHP anyway.

Chris Bassitt’s deal with the Orioles, which is pending physical, includes a $3 million signing bonus and $500,000 in incentives if he starts 27 games. Which he has done each of the last five seasons, during which his 880.1 innings rank eighth among all MLB pitchers.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 12, 2026

Pretty salty

$240M would put 6 teams over, the Astros $2M over and 15 teams under the cap floor.

It would be interesting https://t.co/221M2EJyfC

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) February 12, 2026

EastCoastAgNc said:

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$240M would put 6 teams over, the Astros $2M over and 15 teams under the cap floor.

It would be interesting https://t.co/221M2EJyfC

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) February 12, 2026

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Its going to be interesting because the players aren't going to like that but I could see the owners taking issue as well. The main issue I see is the small market teams wanting more revenue sharing for that floor and big market teams balking at having to further fund those teams at their own organization's detriment. Those types of caps only work where a huge chunk of revenue is shared and MLB doesn't work that way. They can try to take over more of the tv contract revenue but MLB is and always will be seven more by local ticket revenue.

My guess is they will just have stiffer penalties for exceeding the tax thresholds and make it harder for small market teams who don't spend to pocket shared revenue. In exchange they may let players hit free agency or start arbitration earlier.

On a side note, I'd like to see them get rid of punishing teams for signing free agents. Yes reward teams for losing players but penalizing teams for trying to compete is counter intuitive. It's had the opposite intended effect as only big market teams are willing to absorb the lost draft picks while being a major deterrent for middle market teams.

Hub `93 said:

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Meanwhile, on the South Side...

White Sox GM May Not Know Who He Traded for This Offseason

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Chris Getz mistakenly thought Luisangel Acuna was a switch-hitter when he isn't.@ChrisTannehill shared his feelings with sound drops. @MattSpiegs called it "bad." @LaurenceWHolmes got angry.

"I find that to be problematic," Holmes says. pic.twitter.com/bozEs6ZWyw

— 104.3 The Score (@thescorechicago) February 12, 2026

Put that in the "things could always be worse" category

NEWS out of Florida, where MLB owners voted to enforce a rule: First and third base coaches must stay in their boxes until the pitch is thrown. Why the crackdown? Story here: https://t.co/d7NoG4GqBM

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 12, 2026

Interesting insight on hamate bone injuries.

"Your hand is basically immobilized for 3-4 weeks, then you lose strength in your wrist, so it takes a little bit of time to get that [power] back."@AJPierzynski12, who broke his hamate bone and had it removed in 1999, explains how it happened and the effect it had on him. pic.twitter.com/Lpk5D5qjtU

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 11, 2026

EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

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Is Walker aware about the baseball side of things? He hasn't earned an everyday role

Old man Walker can rest one or two days per week

EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

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Hopefully he's putting in the work to back up his ambition. If so, he's welcome to stay. If he's going to suck, "Well, Bye!"

EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

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This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

If he could replicate his 2025 road game at home he wouldn't have any issues with PT either.

If he just gets his home splits half way to his road ones he would be fine.

Farmer1906 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

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This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

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Of course they aren't. Why would they?

This is a disaster waiting to happen. Walker can only play one position and Paredes does not really have one right now unless someone leaves. Dana needs to either move one or get lucky with an injury where Paredes gets a defensive position to open up that he can move into.

agproducer said:

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Interesting insight on hamate bone injuries.

"Your hand is basically immobilized for 3-4 weeks, then you lose strength in your wrist, so it takes a little bit of time to get that [power] back."@AJPierzynski12, who broke his hamate bone and had it removed in 1999, explains how it happened and the effect it had on him. pic.twitter.com/Lpk5D5qjtU

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 11, 2026

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And from what I understand, the hamate bone really serves very little purpose. It's sort of the skeleton's version of our appendix.

Marvin said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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$240M would put 6 teams over, the Astros $2M over and 15 teams under the cap floor.

It would be interesting https://t.co/221M2EJyfC

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) February 12, 2026

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And outlaw deferments, or at least make them count to each season. Even better, cost them today at future values to make it especially painful to the salary cap.

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It would never happen but could you imagine if they banned deferments retroactively and in order to meet the salary cap teams would have to make actual hard decisions to trade guys and get under the cap?

Like the Dodgers would have to make the decision whether or not to trade Ohtani, Tucker, Freeman, Betts, etc?

Farmer1906 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

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This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

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Sorry if this has already been discussed, but as a worst case scenario, is this breakdown terrible?

1B - Walker/Paredes
2B - Altuve
SS - Pena/Correa
3B - Correa/Paredes
LF - Alvarez
CF - Meyers
RF - Smith
DH - Paredes/Walker/Correa (basically whoever is not playing one of the infield positions)

I know it probably isn't ideal, but even with a loaded infield, all of those guys can at least get consistent ABs. And they can rotate through positions throughout the year to manage work load.

AggiEE said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

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Is Walker aware about the baseball side of things? He hasn't earned an everyday role

Old man Walker can rest one or two days per week

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Came out too hot in my response. Deleted it. Tired of the arguing over Paredes and Walker and if keeping both of them works.

I just think the way you view it ends poorly. You're being the fan, not the manager.

We shall see how the season goes if they're both on the team. I've been wrong before and surely will be wrong again.

MTX13 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

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This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

---

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but as a worst case scenario, is this breakdown terrible?

1B - Walker/Paredes
2B - Altuve
SS - Pena/Correa
3B - Correa/Paredes
LF - Alvarez
CF - Meyers
RF - Smith
DH - Paredes/Walker/Correa (basically whoever is not playing one of the infield positions)

I know it probably isn't ideal, but even with a loaded infield, all of those guys can at least get consistent ABs. And they can rotate through positions throughout the year to manage work load.

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It's about ABs and games. I don't see how you can get Walker, Paredes, Altuve, Pena, Correa, and Alvarez 150 games if they all stay healthy the entire year. Paredes was an All-Star and we have people on this board essentially wanting to use him as a glorified utility guy and have him and Walker play like 75%-80% of the games this season.

The only way keeping Walker and Paredes works in my mind is Walker becomes a back-up player. That's it. And well, we saw the comments by Walker, so we'll see how the clubhouse culture is this season if they're both on the team.

Beat40 said:

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MTX13 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

---

This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

---

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but as a worst case scenario, is this breakdown terrible?

1B - Walker/Paredes
2B - Altuve
SS - Pena/Correa
3B - Correa/Paredes
LF - Alvarez
CF - Meyers
RF - Smith
DH - Paredes/Walker/Correa (basically whoever is not playing one of the infield positions)

I know it probably isn't ideal, but even with a loaded infield, all of those guys can at least get consistent ABs. And they can rotate through positions throughout the year to manage work load.

---

It's about ABs and games. I don't see how you can get Walker, Paredes, Altuve, Pena, Correa, and Alvarez 150 games if they all stay healthy the entire year. Paredes was an All-Star and we have people on this board essentially wanting to use him as a glorified utility guy and have him and Walker play like 75%-80% of the games this season.

The only way keeping Walker and Paredes works in my mind is Walker becomes a back-up player. That's it. And well, we saw the comments by Walker, so we'll see how the clubhouse culture is this season if they're both on the team.

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You guys might light me up for asking this, but do we really want Altuve to play 150 games at this point? It's a big "if" considering last year, but what if Walker does show better results? Who out of that group would you rather sit? It would have to be Altuve or Correa.

Beat40 said:

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MTX13 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

---

This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

---

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but as a worst case scenario, is this breakdown terrible?

1B - Walker/Paredes
2B - Altuve
SS - Pena/Correa
3B - Correa/Paredes
LF - Alvarez
CF - Meyers
RF - Smith
DH - Paredes/Walker/Correa (basically whoever is not playing one of the infield positions)

I know it probably isn't ideal, but even with a loaded infield, all of those guys can at least get consistent ABs. And they can rotate through positions throughout the year to manage work load.

---

It's about ABs and games. I don't see how you can get Walker, Paredes, Altuve, Pena, Correa, and Alvarez 150 games if they all stay healthy the entire year. Paredes was an All-Star and we have people on this board essentially wanting to use him as a glorified utility guy and have him and Walker play like 75%-80% of the games this season.

The only way keeping Walker and Paredes works in my mind is Walker becomes a back-up player. That's it. And well, we saw the comments by Walker, so we'll see how the clubhouse culture is this season if they're both on the team.

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There is another way. Trade Carlos and put Paredes back at 3B.

I know that's not happening.

The solution is a trade. Someone goes. Paredes. Walker. Or yes trade CC. Or in a crazy impossible world trade Pena, put CC at SS and Paredes gets 3B.

The likelihood of those last two things are -37% and -49%.

Marvin said:

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Beat40 said:

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MTX13 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

---

This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

---

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but as a worst case scenario, is this breakdown terrible?

1B - Walker/Paredes
2B - Altuve
SS - Pena/Correa
3B - Correa/Paredes
LF - Alvarez
CF - Meyers
RF - Smith
DH - Paredes/Walker/Correa (basically whoever is not playing one of the infield positions)

I know it probably isn't ideal, but even with a loaded infield, all of those guys can at least get consistent ABs. And they can rotate through positions throughout the year to manage work load.

---

It's about ABs and games. I don't see how you can get Walker, Paredes, Altuve, Pena, Correa, and Alvarez 150 games if they all stay healthy the entire year. Paredes was an All-Star and we have people on this board essentially wanting to use him as a glorified utility guy and have him and Walker play like 75%-80% of the games this season.

The only way keeping Walker and Paredes works in my mind is Walker becomes a back-up player. That's it. And well, we saw the comments by Walker, so we'll see how the clubhouse culture is this season if they're both on the team.

---

You guys might light me up for asking this, but do we really want Altuve to play 150 games at this point? It's a big "if" considering last year, but what if Walker does show better results? Who out of that group would you rather sit? It would have to be Altuve or Correa.

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Well I guess it's 5:00 somewhere. IYKWIM.

Marvin. Brother.

Maybe. I'm a proponent of trading him but let's not kid ourselves, we have two old guys (CW and Altuve) and an injury prone 3B (God love him). Throw in Rendon Alvarez and Paredes is going to get plenty of PT.

MTX13 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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“My goal is to play every day and be the everyday first baseman,” said Christian Walker, who spoke for around 13 minutes after his arrival in Astros camp. Walker acknowledged the infield surplus and said he is “aware of the business side of things.”

“I want to be here,” he said

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 12, 2026

Well this is awkward

---

This is kind of what I was worried about. Paredes and Walker are not going to accept a bench role.

---

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but as a worst case scenario, is this breakdown terrible?

1B - Walker/Paredes
2B - Altuve
SS - Pena/Correa
3B - Correa/Paredes
LF - Alvarez
CF - Meyers
RF - Smith
DH - Paredes/Walker/Correa (basically whoever is not playing one of the infield positions)

I know it probably isn't ideal, but even with a loaded infield, all of those guys can at least get consistent ABs. And they can rotate through positions throughout the year to manage work load.

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On paper, we can make that work. But in actuality, I think it's a problem.

1. Correa does not want to play SS anymore.
2. The org wants to keep Yordan healthy and at DH as much as possible.
3. This shrinks Paredes and Walker's reps at 3B(Paredes only) and DH. Which means they split a lot of 1B time.

Walker gets 3 starts a month at DH
Paredes gets 2 starts at 3B and 2 starts at DH a month.
They split 1B at 12 starts a month.

That gives them around 15-16 games per month (call it 27 games per month over 6 months). That's less than 100 games a year for each.

I can't imagine Paredes playing any 3B unless it's to spell CC for a game or two here and there. Big concern being does he have the range and mobility after the hammy injury.

That same thing can be said about CC playing SS.

To me the logjam is not in the infield. I's at DH. Too many players that can't play defense regularly so now we have a backlog at DH.

I also wouldn't be too concerned about Walker being a locker room problem. Yeah he wants to play full time but by all accounts he's a veteran presence in clubhouse and high quality teammate.

9 days until this team's first spring training game is too long.