The Houston Astros have been desperate to upgrade at first base and now could see a new All-Star option be made available to them.
Zach Pressnell of FanSided came up with a trade idea that could be perfect for the Astros after speculation starts to rise about first baseman Josh Naylor’s time with the Cleveland Guardians.
Naylor’s contract is coming to an end soon. Despite his solid play, it’s not a given that the Guardians are going to make him one of the players that gets an extension from them. If they decide to move on from him, Houston should be the first team that answers the phone.
Pressnell’s proposed trade would see the Astros sending over pitching prospects Miguel Ullola and Jose Fleury to Cleveland in exchange for their slugger.
This seems like fair compensation, as both of those young pitchers have exciting stuff in their mix and are riding high from last season.
As for Naylor, he’s fresh off of his first career All-Star nod. A weaker second half and second-straight poor postseason performance could make him expendable.
Even him he performs like he did during the weaker months of this past campaign, it would be a massive upgrade over what Houston had last year.
Over his last two seasons, the 27-year-old has posted a .272/.335/.471 slashing line. He hit for a better average in 2023, but hit for a career-high 30 home runs in 2024.
The Canada native doesn’t strike out a ton, hits for power and is at least average at first base defense.
From their massively disappointing group of first basemen this season, the Astros got just a .226/.291/.360 slashing line. It accounted for the most strikeouts and least RBI of any spot in the lineup. That’s a deadly combo when trying to win a World Series.
Trading away a couple of promising pitchers seems worth the risk given where the franchise is at right now.
Ullola is the team’s highest-rated pitching prospect right now, the seventh overall player in their farm sytem.
He was an international signing back in 2021 and has seen a quick turnaround as a very intriguing pitcher. It’s been a strength of the team for years now.
The 22-year-old’s mid-to-high 90s fastball is his biggest calling card and he’s projected to become a bullpen contributor.
Fleury is at a similar place of his career and is similarly-rated. The former pickup of just $10,000 had a fast start to his professional career and has maintained that solid beginning.
