Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros Engaging in Trade Talks

[Matthew Lenz]

Another day, another Boston Red Sox trade talks rumor. This time it involves the Houston Astros, who've they've previously discussed a trade with around third baseman Isaac Paredes. Well, he is still the primary target for the Red Sox; it appears the initial talks of Houston receiving a starting pitcher have shifted to an outfielder.

Matt Couture of the Raise the Banner podcast is reporting that "talks continue" between the two teams and adds that outfielder Jarren Duran is the focal point for the Astros. Couture previously said to "keep an eye out" for a deal involving starting pitcher Brayan Bello. 

Separately, Chandler Rome, who covers the Astros for The Athletic, said that there is "nothing close at this time" and that "Wilyer Abreu intrigues them maybe a little bit more than Duran." You might recall the Astros traded Abreu to the Red Sox at the 2022 trade deadline for catcher Christian Vazquez.

Drop your hypothetical trade packages in the comments!

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[I Kenneth]

I saw someone propose Duran and Bello for Paredes, Meyers and Arrighetti the other day.  I'm down with that.

[notin]

From Houston for both Duran and Bello?  I would need Isaac Paredes, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, and the entire Texans’ starting defense.

I can be talked out of Calen Bullock…

[JoeBrady]

46 minutes ago, notin said:

From Houston for both Duran and Bello?  I would need Isaac Paredes, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, and the entire Texans’ starting defense.

I can be talked out of Calen Bullock…

Jumping off the Stroud train?

[Brock Beauchamp]

12 hours ago, I Kenneth said:

I saw someone propose Duran and Bello for Paredes, Meyers and Arrighetti the other day.  I'm down with that.

Welcome to Talk Sox!

[notin]

12 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Jumping off the Stroud train?

No.  Leaving it under the Christmas tree where it belongs.

New England is Drake “Drake Maye” Maye country now!!

[notin]

13 hours ago, I Kenneth said:

I saw someone propose Duran and Bello for Paredes, Meyers and Arrighetti the other day.  I'm down with that.

I’m not, but it’s probably the best Houston can do.

It might be ok if Arrighetti isn't a total bust…

 

[moonslav59]

13 hours ago, I Kenneth said:

I saw someone propose Duran and Bello for Paredes, Meyers and Arrighetti the other day.  I'm down with that.

We don't need Meyers.

[moonslav59]

Duran for Paredes, B King & Janek might still be a Sox overpay, but I'd probably say yes.

Duran & Hicks for Paredes might give us some budget space to sign a decent RP'er or two.

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

I’m not, but it’s probably the best Houston can do.

It might be ok if Arrighetti isn't a total bust…

 

Arrighetti is a fly ball pitcher that gets pulled a lot. Not sure what the point is in having him added. Would rather add fliers on some lower level guys TBH.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Arrighetti is a fly ball pitcher that gets pulled a lot. Not sure what the point is in having him added. Would rather add fliers on some lower level guys TBH.

It's never bad to add more good pitchers, but that is not really a high need area.

The Astros have Paredes (huge need) and two decent LH'd RP'ers (King & Sousa)- another high need area. Some think we need catcher depth, and the Astros have a great catcher, who they will not trade, but they have a good catcher prospect in Janek. They also have a RH'd RP'er in Abreu on his last arb year at $5.8M.

HOU may be looking to get under the tax line, so Paredes for Duran saves them $1.5M and Abreu makes it $7.3M saved. (King & Sousa are pre-arb.)

Duran for Paredes, Abreu and one from King, Sousa or Jankek? I think that gets HOU under the tax line and the star OF'er they seek.

We add some offense and fill our infield need. We lose a year, as Duran has 3, while Paredes 2, but add Abreu's one year and it's even before looking at the third piece. If HOU is interested, we could add DHam, Sogard, Eaton or maybe even Sandlin or Mullins types, but it looks like we are already overpaying, so maybe not.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, notin said:

No.  Leaving it under the Christmas tree where it belongs.

New England is Drake “Drake Maye” Maye country now!!

I hate the Pats, but kudos.  Just like with the Bears, the FO did a lot more than just draft a good QB.  Both assembled a really good team around their QBs.

[JoeBrady]

14 hours ago, I Kenneth said:

I saw someone propose Duran and Bello for Paredes, Meyers and Arrighetti the other day.  I'm down with that.

I like both guys, just not for the RS.  Arri caught my eye with his K-BB% in 2024, but has been injured since, plus the FB%.  Meyers is a nice choice for a team with sluggers in the corner slots, but is duplicative of Ceddanne's skills.

[UtahSox]

I think this team can’t afford to lose Duran bat in lineup, he is such a better baseball player than Yoshida. I’d like to see Bello for Paredes straight up. Maybe another fringe 40 pitcher. 

1) Duran

2) Paredes

3) Anthony

4) Contreras

5) Abreu

6) Story

7) Rafaela

8) Mayer

9) Rafaela

—————

10) Casas

11) Romy

Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Sandoval, Oviedo, Early, Tolle, Crawford, Harrison 

 

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Arrighetti is a fly ball pitcher that gets pulled a lot. Not sure what the point is in having him added. Would rather add fliers on some lower level guys TBH.

I also think Arrighetti hasn’t really shown he makes a difference versus all the other SPs on the 40 man.  Sure, he’s probably better than Drohan and Uberstine, but those guys are probably barely clinging to spots as it is…

[notin]

14 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

I think this team can’t afford to lose Duran bat in lineup, he is such a better baseball player than Yoshida. I’d like to see Bello for Paredes straight up. Maybe another fringe 40 pitcher. 

1) Duran

2) Paredes

3) Anthony

4) Contreras

5) Abreu

6) Story

7) Rafaela

8) Mayer

9) Rafaela

—————

10) Casas

11) Romy

Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Sandoval, Oviedo, Early, Tolle, Crawford, Harrison 

 

I’d trade Bello straight up for Paredes and bench/demote Yoshida, and I’d do it all last week…

[notin]

34 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I hate the Pats, but kudos.  Just like with the Bears, the FO did a lot more than just draft a good QB.  Both assembled a really good team around their QBs.

I can understand hating the Belichick/Brady Pats.  But these are the Vrabel-Maye Pats! Totally different!

I despise the Bears, but as I live in Chicago -easily the worst sports city in the USA - I desperately want the Bears to win another Super Bowl just so this city can FINALLY shut the f*** up about the ‘85 Bears!  My god, their obsession with that team transcends unhealthy behavior…

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran for Paredes, B King & Janek might still be a Sox overpay, but I'd probably say yes.

Duran & Hicks for Paredes might give us some budget space to sign a decent RP'er or two.

Hicks is overpaid and was very ineffective over the 19 innings he pitched for Boston last year.  But I have no issues if he gets another shot.  He was a good reliever in St. Louis before the Giants forced him into a starting role.  And if that affected him last year, he might be a good candidate to bounce back.  Plus once the Sox trade him, it creates a void in their bullpen they need to address, and that could significantly cut into the money moved anyway.  So moving him is probably not the savings we hope for.

Might as we’ll just keep him and see if he can be the 100+ mph arm he’s always been…

[JoeBrady]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

I can understand hating the Belichick/Brady Pats.  But these are the Vrabel-Maye Pats! Totally different!

I'm a Raiders fan.  We hate everyone.  Some more than others.

[JoeBrady]

9 minutes ago, notin said:

And if that affected him last year, he might be a good candidate to bounce back.

I'd have no problem cutting him at an appropriate point, but my guess is that his bounce back value is higher than his trade value.  RPs bounce back every single year.

[notin]

3 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I'm a Raiders fan.  We hate everyone.  Some more than others.

But mostly the Raiders…

[moonslav59]

Crawford for Paredes works on BTV, but in reality, not.

Bello's AAC is almost the same as Paredes, so maybe that will be the deal, but I think we should get King, Sousa or Janek added.

[notin]

10 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Crawford for Paredes works on BTV, but in reality, not.

Bello's AAC is almost the same as Paredes, so maybe that will be the deal, but I think we should get King, Sousa or Janek added.

Getting more is better, but at a minimum a straight up one-for-one trade works for me.

And Boston.  

And Houston…

[drewski6]

Duran for paredes is too close to 0 sum for me , hitting wise.

It does leave Yoshida alone at DH, so we could make ANOTHER move to bring in a DH, which I prob would.

But better to just leave the OF rotation intact, and trade a pitcher for Paredes.

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, notin said:

Getting more is better, but at a minimum a straight up one-for-one trade works for me.

And Boston.  

And Houston…

I think HOU would be thrilled to get 5 years of Bello for 2 years of Paredes, and while I think Paredes makes the Sox better than Bello would, it's still not fair to BOS. Years 3-5 would hurt.

I think we could take Abreu and help HOU get under the tax line or get 5 years of King or Sousa to even up the years part.

[notin]

21 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Duran for paredes is too close to 0 sum for me , hitting wise.

It does leave Yoshida alone at DH, so we could make ANOTHER move to bring in a DH, which I prob would.

But better to just leave the OF rotation intact, and trade a pitcher for Paredes.

According to the very unofficial Roster Resource:

1. Paredes is on the Astros bench as a weak side platoon in one of their outfield corners.  (They list both corner OF spots as platoons, but Roster Resource is notoriously platoon happy.)

 

2. They do list six SPs for Houston, but one of them is some guy named Ryan Weiss, who I’m pretty sure only got the job by being the 6th caller in some KBME 790 radio talk show.

3. Another is Lance McCullers Jr.  It’s pretty sad that Houston has not yet learned their lesson that McCullers - who has started 24 games total in the PAST FOUR SEASONS - is clearly not durable enough for a rotation spot, and the act of pencilling him in there does legally constitute abuse.  He might work out in a reduced bullpen role, and it’s absolutely something the Astros need to consider because McCullers has been doing this part time starter thing FOR ELEVEN YEARS NOW.

If the Astros won’t trade a bench bat for Bello, move on.  I guess they can always rely on KBME to find them more starters…

 

[moonslav59]

I think HOU would do Bello for Paredes & Abreu

AAV:

15.2 (Paredes 9.3 & Abreu 5.9) to BOS

9.3 Bello to HOU

I'd try hard to get them to give us King or even Janek or Sousa, but Abreu is projected at a 1.3 fWAR, this season. He would give us 3 pen arms projected at 1.1 or higher.

[notin]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think HOU would be thrilled to get 5 years of Bello for 2 years of Paredes, and while I think Paredes makes the Sox better than Bello would, it's still not fair to BOS. Years 3-5 would hurt.

I think we could take Abreu and help HOU get under the tax line or get 5 years of King or Sousa to even up the years part.

Then it becomes a bigger deal since Boston has to DFA another player to squeeze Sousa or King on the roster.  And while both LHRP you nane have more control, we’re talking about pitchers who are already 30 or will be soon and might not even be around for 5 more years.  Sure they might be upgrades over, say, Drohan. But does either have options left? Is either an improvement over Jovani Moran? Do the Sox have to demote someone like Harrison to hold on to these late bloomers?

If Houston gives more, I prefer lower level prospects that don’t mess with the current 40 man roster…

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

It's never bad to add more good pitchers, but that is not really a high need area.

Agreed, so why add Arrighetti if you're dumping Bello? Just leave Bello out of the trade.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, notin said:

I also think Arrighetti hasn’t really shown he makes a difference versus all the other SPs on the 40 man.  Sure, he’s probably better than Drohan and Uberstine, but those guys are probably barely clinging to spots as it is…

Better than Drohan isn't getting me excited for sure.