SURPRISE: Astros LOCK IN 11 Players—Brendan Donovan & Sonny Gray Trade Chatter ERUPTS

SURPRISE: Astros LOCK IN 11 Players—Brendan Donovan & Sonny Gray Trade Chatter ERUPTS

The 40man roster is full, but will all 40 men be here when spring training starts? We’re going to talk about some trade possibilities and more Brendan Donovan talk on this edition of Locked on Astros. Yel Diaz. This is Locked on Astros. Hello and welcome to Locked on Astros, your daily Astros podcast. Here are your hosts, Eric the Man Heisman and Brett Htown Wheelhouse Chansy. We are Lockdown Houston Astros and we update you joins us for a daily lockdown on Astros podcast. My name is Eric Eisman. You can find me on X at Ericstros. Find the show at Lockdown Astros, your team every day. This is my co-host Brett. Uh we are uh the Lockown Astros podcast. Thank you for making us your first listen on Apple Odyssey Spotify. Wherever you listen your podcast, thank you for becoming part of the Lockdown Astros Nation. I know we like to call y’all Everydayers. And we’re gonna have something coming up pretty soon called the Everydayers Club. And it it’s be something that you get to uh you’re walking down the street, you’ll say, “Hey, are you Everydayer Club?” And you somebody else be like, “Yeah, I’m part of the Everyday Club.” So, we’ll talk more about that coming up, but I know that it’s Thanksgiving week, but we just wanted to kind of talk about some things that happened over the weekend and then we’ll go ahead and keep you up to know about what’s going on um with the Astros. And because between Brett and I, we have over 18 years of podcasting experience and we’re going to be here no matter what happens over the next week, the the rest of the off season, and uh into 2026. But what we do know is that the 11 players were tendered contracts on Friday. Nobody was non-indered, so to speak. And then you had two players that are also signed to actual deals. So they were tech technically tendered and signed. Brendan Donovan, his name keeps on coming up. Also, we’re hearing about Sunny Gray. Could Sunny Gray be finally coming to Houston? This is a name that we’ve been hearing linked to Houston Astros for a very long time. And then we could also talk about Nan Hyen’s role with the Houston Astros. What’s that like? And who did it? Rangers non-tender. That was kind of surprising. We’ll talk about that and more on tonight’s Lockdown Astros podcast. Uh first of all, Brett, uh happy Thanksgiving week. Yeah, definitely. Um and it should be a good one. We hope that everyone has a great time with their family. if you’re traveling, we pray for safe travels for y’all and that you’re just able to, you know, practice an attitude of gratitude and um you got a chance. I know there is a toy drive tomorrow um Josh Hater is having at Dyken Park. Um I may try to pop in over there and see what’s going on. Um but that is a good cause to do. That’s his second annual with the Astros. But you know, right now I mean you know the stove is hot. Um maybe we’ve just got the stove turned on. It’s not really hasn’t come to its highest level of heat yet, but we see moves across the league. I mean, today we saw um NMO traded straight up for Marcus Simeon tonight. Um confirmed by Jeff Bassan. You talked about a non-tender with the Rangers, Adulus Garcia. Um and there’s another Ranger that was that was non-tender, Jonah, which would be an interesting backup. I was going to bring his name up later. Yeah. So, we’ll talk about that later. But the 11 players that they did keep, um, it was it was no surprise. It was no mystery. um you did sign De Los Santos and and um and and Trel to a one-year um contract for 2026, but the guys that you um tend to the contracts to Brian Breu, Nick Allen, um Hunter Brown, Yanner Diaz, Meyers, Ourt Paredes, Pñena Sanchez, Sza, and Wasneski. No surprise there. Um, I think it’s possible that maybe some of these guys, a couple of these guys get traded, Eric. I mean, if you’re looking at trade targets, if you’re looking at potential trades with other teams, and we’ll get to Mr. Donovan later, these are guys that, yes, they’re on your roster, but they’re not all doesn’t mean that they’re all going to be here um when the 2026 opening date gets here. And according to Mark Fein, he said that Del Santos, he got a 1.6 6 million deal and he gets a 100k bonus if he appears in 60 games. And Trel is kind of a split deal. We saw this before with another player. I can’t think of his name right now, but uh he gets 500,000 guaranteed and 900,000 if he makes the major league roster at some point during the season. So uh that’s that means that that’s what they call a split um contract. So, he has the option to start down in AAA and if he if they need him, he can come up, but if he stays down in AAA the whole year, he’s only going to make 500,000. But, uh, you said there’s no surprises and I get what you mean there, but there’s a lot of people that thought that they were going to non-tender Jesus Sanchez. I know that if you look at CS, they predict that he’s going to make about 4.5 million. MLB Trade Rumors predicted that he’s going to make about 5.6 six million. It just depends on which ones you agree you you think about it. But um I think the Astros and I was trying to talk to Brandon about this when we did the podcast on Thursday team the Astros still think that he has value. They want to still see what he can do if given regular playing time and maybe start fresh and u maybe with some new hitting coaches, a new philosophy and get him back to where he was with the Marlins. but also he could be still traded because they’re still trying to slash those prices and get it get the um payroll down because I believe the Astros are about 216 here. Uh 216 right now. So they have about 26 million or so. Sorry, it’s 218 million right now. Um so they have about 26 million that they can play around with right now with free agency. That’s not including any trades they make at this point. Of course, this uh does not accommodate um any right raises and the uh we’ll talk about arbitration in a little bit, but all these players will have to go through arbitration, but so that number could go up or down depending on what they agree on. But um yeah, I definitely sorry I think Sanchez has just as much chance of being on the roster opening day as he does being traded. I I think it’s about 5050. Um if they keep him, then that means that they believe he’s going to be able to turn it around. If you could get his swing and miss to be less swing and miss, you keep his head in the box, keep his head on the ball, putting more baseballs out of the park like he was doing when he was with the Marlins, then he would be an asset. But but right now, he is a swing and miss, free swinging left-handed outfielder that severely underperformed this last year. But he is a guy that if he does stay, you hope that he provides for you um some answers to the power that was missing because Eric, this is not a great powerhitting team. And and you know, Brendan Donovan on the on the left side would be good with power. But right now, you’ve got to look at your guys like Yiner Diaz, you got to look at your guys like Jeremy Pñena, um Yordon Alvarez, you know, these guys got to be healthy all year. They’ve got to hit 25 plus home runs. All of them. I mean, the name of the game is scoring runs, Eric. We know they missed the playoffs by one game, but we know that in 82 of their 162 games, they average three runs or less. So, they’ve got to fill this lineup out to be more beefy, to be more run producing. And if Sanchez gets you a trade piece that brings someone in that gets you more RBI, then you make that move. And I think he’s at a cheap enough price that people would take a chance on him because he has had success. There has been interest and uh not only him but also Jake Myers. So it just depends like Brandon and I had a conversation on Thursday. How much do we have faith in um Josh um Joshu what’s his last name again? The center the outfielder. Astros outfielder is Oh you talking about Zack Cole. Zack. Zack Cole. Yeah, Zack Cole. I was like Josh. I was like Josh. I guess I’m thinking of uh Jonah, whatever. A lot of names going in my head right now. But um how much uh do you have faith in Cole uh to be the center fielder? Because if you trade Jake Zack Jake Myers, you’re gonna have a situation where he’s probably gonna be your center fielder. I No. See, I I I think I I I don’t think that’s correct. And I’ll tell you why. Cam Smith profiles as a center fielder more than Zack Cole. Because of Cam Smith’s size, because of his speed. You’ve got to patrol a big area in center field. You got to make a lot of leaping grabs. I don’t think Zack Cole is that guy. I think Zack Cole is your right fielder, is your corner outfielder. I think Cam Smith, if he if he can move from third to right field and be a Gold Glove candidate, he can definitely move to center field and make that adjustment. I think that’s what you do. Me personally, I think Zach profiles better and right. I think you can have th this is this is granted Jake Myers is traded. Cam Smith and center. Jacob Melton as your backup center fielder. I don’t have a problem with him as a fourth fourth outfielder. Both of those guys are tall. Both those guys have cannons for arms and both those guys can track down a baseball. Yeah. So, um I guess it just depends on what they want to do and we’ll have to figure out what’s going on. But I know that we have all off season try to figure this out. And that’s basically what uh Dana Brown has to do too. But uh we’re not going to figure this out out in one show. But guys, thank you for making Lock on Astros podcast your first listen and go ahead and talk about a little bit about Brennan Donovan. But before we do that, I want to talk a little bit about Hunter Brown arbitration, what the Astros could technically do, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Talk about that next. Hey everybody, thank you all for tuning in to Locked on Astros this Thanksgiving week and the NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. The Rockets are on fire. The tandem of Shenon and Durant. Oh my gosh, what a joy to watch. So, right now, FanDuel’s giving new customers $300 of bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com today and sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Hey guys, thank you for making Lock on Astros podcast your first listen every day. Whether it’s on YouTube, go and subscribe to us, go and make us first listen, Apple, Odyssey, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast, go and check us out. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download Game Time app, create an account, use the code lockdown MLB for $20 off your first purchase. And uh Brett, before the break, I’d kind of talk to kind of wrap up on the arbitration, the tender deadline. Um I believe that um Hunter Brown is due to make about $1.2 million in his first year of arbitration. So technically what the Astros could do, I don’t think that Scott Boris and Hunter Brown are going to go for it, but we’ve talked about what they could do. Uh this is his first year of arbitration. He has two more years of arbitration. What they could technically do at this point is say, “Hey, uh Hunter, we want to work out a deal with you. uh let’s go and buy out your last three years of arbitration and go in and work out a contract extension where we go ahead and give you a little bit more money now and then um a little bit later on maybe not quite what the market value would be but still getting you uh some good money uh money that you’re supposed to be doing. So if he’s supposed to be making 1.2 2 million this year, maybe give them 5 million, then maybe jump it up to 10 million uh or 8 million next year, then 12 million, and then do the escalators uh for the extension. You could do that. Look, just as long as they don’t do what the Detroit Tigers did. And of course, they’re dealing with the guy that just won back-to-back Sai Youngs. They offered him a four-year extension for 75 million, not per year, for the four years. And if you know the anything that is the inflated market in baseball, um TK school is going to be the highest paid pitcher in Major League Baseball history, hands down. I mean, he he he is going to get a lot of money. But when we when we talk about bringing guys on, it is a game of dollars and cents. And we know that Jim Crane is one of the more frugal um high high spending um owners. And I know a lot of people think he’s cheap. He’s not. I think he is very intentional with where his money goes. And unfortunately with us giving 17 million this year to someone like Lance McCullers Jr. who hopefully contributes at least half a season, you’ve got a lot of money that you’ve spent that hasn’t been on the field. You’ve been spending on players that you let go. You’ve been spending on players that you basically fire and say, “We’ll still pay you the 16, but you’re not you’re not good enough to be on our team.” And that’s what really cramps the style of the of the Astros and the stylings of their roster. Um, so Eric, I think it’s really important to get someone like a Brennan Donovan. How important you think I mean, this guy’s a left-handed bat. He’s a left-handed hitting second baseman, can play multiple positions. Don’t you think this is the guy? This is their guy. Um, until he’s gone somewhere else, I would think so. I I feel like he is their top target and I know that there’s other teams that are wanting him. The like I’ve said many times, the Astros are going to have a lot of competition for him, but he makes the most sense for the Houston Astros because a they do have opening at second base. So, he can play pretty much every day at second base. José Altuve will be playing sparingly at second base, but he’ll be playing mostly DH and you he’ll be playing some left field. But then you have situation is where where is Esacho Paradius going to be playing because if you get Donovan, then you’re going to go ahead and be blocking second base a little bit, but at the same time, Donovan can play multiple positions. He can kind of take over that role that we had um Mauricio Juban play. And so he could play multiple positions and um you can have Jose Altuve playing there and maybe Paradius play some second base. Who knows what’s going to happen, but I think that what um Donovan does is what the Astros don’t do a lot of. Uh he makes good contact. He hits from left hand handed side and he may not be a big power guy. He’s not going to go out there and hit you 30 home runs, but he makes good contact. He doesn’t strike out a lot and he just gets the job done and um I just think that he’s exactly he’s not a big chase guy. He’s not a guy that’s go out there and just embarrass himself. And I think that you need some uh not only another left-handed hitter because Jesus Sanchez was another left-handed hitter. He didn’t he didn’t really pan out with the Astros. Maybe in the second season he can, but I just think that Brendan Donovan profiles more as a um hitter that would be good for the Houston Astros. Well, Donovan’s done it for four seasons, Eric. And and that, you know, the proof is in the pudding. Obviously, his best season um was in 2024. Well, I guess overall his best season was really this last year. Um but yeah, I mean 10 10 to 15 home runs a year. um 280 plus average. Um OPS close to 800. Again, he’s a left-handed hitter. He’s 28 years old. He’s got two more years of arbitration left. So, that will come at a price. And like you mentioned, he’s a 92nd percentile and and like lowest strikeout rate, 95th percentile on lowest whiff rate, top 70 percentile and chase rate. I mean, he squared up 96% of the pitches that he’s seen. So, this is definitely a guy that would help. And you know, people while they’re watching us are like, “Yes, but we need pitching.” I don’t think because we talked Brennan Donovan. I don’t think pitching is out of it. And that’s why, Eric, when you see things and when um I I I talked to someone today and you know, not only is Brennan Donovan being considered, but someone like Sunny Gray, would Sunny Gray be a good two or three complimentary to Hunter Brown? Um, you of course would need the Cardinals to take on about 10 million of his contract. And what about Wilson Contras? I mean, they’ve got players over there that they would likely deal in a deal with the Astros. Of course, the Astros would have to send something back to them. And I see Eric Getti’s name thrown around a lot here, but I don’t think if you need pitching as bad as the Astros need that Eric Getty is one of the guys that leaves. I think maybe you deal someone like a like a Jake Myers. It’s probably gonna take someone on the AAA roster like a Yola or do the Cardinals want someone who’s ready to pitch now? You know what I’m saying? So, are you going to have to go pitcher for pitcher, player for player on this? But the Cardinals have assets. Do the Astros have enough? And that’s the question. So with that being said, Eric, if we’re talking that and that deal gets done, then I guess we can say sale to guys like Ranger Suarez, Dylan CE, and Michael King if we’re going to go that big on Brendan Donovan with the Cardinals, right? Uh yeah, that’s a possibility. And somebody like Sunny Gray, he’s due to make um 35 million in 2026. This Yeah, this was a player like I was talking about that um the contract in 2024 he only made 10 million and then 2025 25 million and then this year it’s uh 35 million. And so he kind of he’s coming off one of his worst seasons, but he still is a good pitcher. He’s a durable pitcher. He’s one of those guys that’s going to go out there most of the time for you. And so, um, there is a team option for 2027 at 30 million with a $5 million buyout. So, the Astros technically could have two years of control if they did trade for Sunny Gray. I feel like this is a guy that the Astros have been chasing for many years. This is um just every year it just seems like is this a year we trade for him? But he still had 20 strikeouts last year and 80 180 innings. So, he still has his stuff. his yard was 4.28. Right now, he did give up the most home runs in a two-year period that he’s given up in his career, but like you noted, 180 plus innings. Um his RA was a little inflated, 200 strikeouts, back-to-back seasons. Um he is going to be um he is going to be 37. Um actually, no, he just turned 36, so he’ll be 37 next year um when when we get into like World Series time. But yeah, I mean, he’s a he’s a guy that that really um I I think is, you know, durable. Um he’s had a couple hamstring issues, but nothing real big. Um he did have an arm issue in 24, but really, I mean, this guy since he’s come up um with the with the Oakland A’s um back in the day, he has done well. You know, he’s given the Astros fits. I I think I think he makes sense. The only question is, Eric, contractually, how much of this salary is it enough for the Astros to ask the Cardinals to pay 10 million of it? Are they going to ask the Astro Are they going to ask the Cardinals to pay 15 million of it? Because that right there eats into the money that you have freed up. So, if that’s the case and that’s too much and they don’t think they can get a deal done for Brendan Donovan knowing that they’re kind of going all in with maybe with this Cardinals thing, um then maybe a Michael King or Ranger Suarez is a reality to come get. But then again, another counter to that is if you do get one of those big guys, you’re probably not going to get a bat like Brendan Donovan. It will be interesting to me and I will be shocked if Jim Crane does this does two deals that we’re talking about in one season. I just don’t I just don’t see that. It’s just not his tendency. He’s never done that. He’s not really break broken the mold since he’s been here. Yeah, guys. Well, I have to go and continue this conversation uh next. Thank you for making Locked on Astros podcast your first listen. and when we get back, we’ll go and continue this and talk a little bit about Dan Hyen’s role with the Astros and which two players did the Rangers just uh drop and could the Astros pick them up? We’re going to talk about that next. Hey there, Astros fans. This is Aan Willhouse. The NFL season is back. If you saw the Texans take on the Bills Mafia with Mills Mafia, they won. And let’s be honest, getting tickets to games like that can be a real hassle between cues, login screens, prices jumping at checkout. It’s frustrating. That’s why I use Game Time. 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We’re trying to get to 16,000 subscribers. Then from there, we’re trying to get to 20,000 subscribers. So this holiday season, go and make us your first listen. Apple Odyssey, Spotify, wherever you’re listening on podcast, go and check us out. We’re your team every day throughout this whole off season. We’ll be here to guide you through whatever chaos is about to transpire. So, I know we’re talking a little bit about Brendan Donovan and we brought up Sunny Gray. The reason why I think the Astros will possibly take on all of Sunny Gay’s contract is um Brendan Donovan is going to cost a lot because he has that trade value. He has a lot of teams are going after him. But I think what the Astro what the Cardinals might be trying to do is trying to take it find a taker that will take on the entire salary of Sunny Gray because they want to kind of offload that. And I thought that I was going to say, well, you can also include Wilson Cadrus, but he’s making$18 million this next two years. And he actually had a pretty good season this last year. But um I think just Sunny Gray is not a terrible pitcher, but he’s making 35 million and I don’t know if he’s uh if the Cardinals really want to hold on to him for that type of money. So if you’re willing to take on a pretty good chunk of that salary, if not all of it, I don’t think you’ll have to give up that big a prospect to add somebody like Sunny Gray. And so that’s just what something Dana Brown and Jim Crane will have to consider. Yeah, definitely. I I mean, this this is why they get paid the big bucks and we don’t. Um, you know, I I I see all these theories and look what what I try to do is I try to rest in in the arms of reality during this time and it’s hard to know what’s real. um with agents talking to reporters and reporters saying this and I mean even even things that I hear I mean I’ve heard a lot of things over the last few years since I’ve done this and I’ve heard legit information and people have told me about deals that are happening that that happen and sometimes it falls through. That’s the thing. I mean you just hear the players talk about it. Bregman talked about going to Boston where he thought they were going, you know, to Detroit and then it changed in five minutes. So, you never really truly know until it actually happens. I had to double check to make sure. Wait, was this really a Jeff Passan tweet about Nemo and Marcus Simeon? The trade makes sense for both teams. But, I mean, that was that was a big name that kind of came out of nowhere. Nobody had that on their bingo board for the hot stove. At the end of the day, I do believe that the Astros will go out and get Brendan Donovan, someone like him and or a bigname pitcher this off seasonason. I don’t know that they can do both, but I think they’re going to get one or the other. And if they don’t go with the pitching, they’re going to have to rely on guys like AJ Blue Ball. They’re going to have to rely more on Jason Alexander. And I think that opens the door for a Justin Verlander. I still like the Justin Verlander acquisition less without another bigname pitcher. I like Justin Verlander back here for a year, but I don’t like him as the only guy that they add to that pitching staff. Well, I think it just depends on um Christian Javier. Christian Javier is the key factor behind all this. if he returns to Christian Javier that he was. I know even when he uh was kind of before the injury, he was still having some issues. He wasn’t the same guy after signing the contract, but I think if he returns to the same guy that earned him that contract, I think the Astros will be fine if they bring on um Justin Berlander and let’s say Spencer Eragetti takes the next step. You have Jason Alexander continue doing what he did last year and AJ Blue Ball becomes this continues to do what he did. But would I like to have another starting pitcher? Yes. Would I be disappointed if it’s Sunny Gray and Justin Verlander? That’s the only additions this off season. No. I think that would be some pretty good additions. You’re not replacing Valdez. The Astros were gonna have to they’re going to have to pay a lot of money to replace Valdez. Valdez is a elite pitcher. I know somebody was dissing me on the podcast I did solo saying uh I I talk bad about Farmer Valdez. I It’s not that I dislike Farmer Valdez. No, it’s just the fact that he um there’s a couple times and even Joe Espada had to address this in a video he did with uh it was what was it? It was it was a podcast he that he went on and they talked to him about that and he said, “No, Farmer Valdez is a great teammate. He goes out there and competes and he does it. Y’all are talking, y’all focusing on one event, but that one event was in front of everybody. And of course, you have the um everybody just replaying it, everybody focusing on that one event.” And so, well, go ahead. I’ll tell you this because I’ve got some backing for you on this with Frober Valdez. Mike Stanton, 20 year 19-year veteran Major League Baseball. Him and I talked about this this week, Eric, because I asked him, “Does this hurt his value? Is this something a team looks at?” He goes, “Absolutely.” He said, “Now, what order of priority it is depends on who’s looking and what they need. But they absolutely if you’re gonna sign a guy to a to a deal like a Max Freed type deal or a Carlos Rodon or a Garrett Crochet type of deal, you’re going to absolutely look at the peripherals. You’re going to look at everything. You’re not just going to look at, yes, he’s durable. No, he doesn’t get hurt. Um, yes, he has he has spin rate, all that stuff. But yeah, they’re also going to say, but he also crosses up and goes rogue on game plans that he’s told this is what we’re doing. Not only that, he threw a ball at a guy. I I mean, you know, he didn’t exactly punch himself in the face like Ken Giles, but it’s pretty bad to cross up your catcher like that and then walk it back. So, I’m not saying that it is going to penalize him a huge amount, but teams will look at that, Eric. You were right. So, whoever’s saying I mean, there’s nothing wrong with saying that. That’s no disrespect to what he did in his career here as an Astro. a thousand plus strikeouts in his in his career, a thousand plus innings. I mean, he was phenomenal, dominant at times, one of the nastiest in the game. But yeah, those intangibles, just like Murio Dubon, he may not be the most valuable guy with the bat, but what you’re going to be losing out of the clubhouse with not having him, Eric, that’s a difference maker in the clubhouse. He is the glue that holds things together. So, all these things have to be considered, especially if you’re a club that’s going to commit 25 to 30 plus million to a pitcher for five or six years. Uh, we didn’t get really a lot of time to talk about this because I didn’t realize that it was already almost time for the show to be over, but uh Dan Hinan, he’s one of the new Astros um hitting coaches, so to speak, but he’s going to be more of a offensive coordinator. He’s going to be in the booth. He’s going to be having a headset and he’s basically going to be uh working with the hitting coaches and basically giving them input during a game. And we’ll have to talk about this more in tomorrow’s uh podcast, but um if you haven’t watched Chandler’s Rome podcast, um he was on there and he kind of talked about everything, but he basically kind of gave the idea of what they want to do to fix stuff for this off season. So, I want to spend some more time on this, but uh so we’ll save that for tomorrow, but real quickly, Adoulis Garcia, A. Do the Astros sign him? And B, does he does he go another job somewhere? Eric. Okay. Do you want people that about you in the comments? No. Adulles Garcia will never ever grace Dy. His head won’t fit in. Yeah, his Aidus Garcia will not be here. Look, dude, this was a this was an ALCS MVP in 23. I know. I mean, this is a guy that can hit the heck out of the ball, but he also has a big swing and miss that will it will never happen. Okay. Um it just it just is not going to happen. Um, you know, but some team will take a risk on him and say he’s an astro. Now, if we’re if if someone proves to me that the earth is flat, then I’ll believe Adoulis becomes an astro. But until that happens, I’m sorry, Adulus. Sorry, buddy. You’re not. No. Adulles. No JV. Oh, come on. Some people are still anti has got some serious hate for JV. I see how it is when he comes back and throws a no hitter at 40 45 or 48, whatever he is. We’ll be seeing who’s cheering for. I’m joking. But hey, Eric, um good show. And yeah, I’m Jonah. Jonah is somebody that um I would think that the Astros might take a look at as a backup catcher. Maybe he’s because he’s a pretty good defensive catcher. Pitch framers. Yeah. No. Yeah. Um, did I did I mention that earlier? I I think I I I think I talked about it earlier. Um, I know I know I know you and I mentioned it um, you know, prior to recording, but yeah, Jonah, I don’t have a problem with Jonah coming in. That is if if Victor Keratini is not brought back, right? Yeah, I think Victor Keratini is the um is the primary target, but this is another option. So guys, thank you for making Locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day. Go ahead and subscribe to us. Go make us first listen Apple Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast. Go and check us out. And we’ll be back tomorrow. Um and hopefully you’re getting everything ready for Thanksgiving to celebrate with your family and loved ones. And we’ll see you later. Go. Those Garcia, his head won’t fit, but Dan Park. Now sorry.

Houston Astros keep fans guessing with 11 players tendered contracts, roster spots still up for grabs, and trade rumors swirling. Could Brendan Donovan or Sonny Gray finally land in Houston, and what would their arrival mean for the infield and pitching rotation? Eric Huysman and Brett Chancey break down the implications of the Astros’ contract decisions, discuss potential trade packages with the Cardinals, and weigh the likelihood of moving players like Jesus Sanchez and Jake Myers.

Key discussion points include Hunter Brown’s arbitration outlook, the possible impact of adding Donovan’s left-handed bat, and whether the Astros would absorb Sonny Gray’s hefty salary to address pitching needs. The episode also examines surprising moves by the Texas Rangers—could the Astros see new opportunities with non-tendered players like Jonah Heim? Get all the latest analysis and off-season speculation as Houston navigates the hot stove and eyes a return to AL dominance.

0:00 Astros Updates and Everydayers Club

05:13 Sanchez’s Future with Astros

06:51 Sanchez’s Future: 50/50 Decision

12:17 Astros’ Arbitration Strategy for Brown

14:47 Astros Eye Versatile Infield Target

18:00 Astros Trade Speculation and Strategy

20:34 Astros Trade Options and Challenges

24:11 “Teams Targeting Sonny Gray Trade”

29:32 Pitcher Critiqued for Game Conduct

30:46 Astros’ New Offensive Coordinator

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