{"id":499724,"date":"2025-12-31T01:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T01:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/499724\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T01:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T01:44:11","slug":"astros-interested-in-red-sox-starter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/499724\/","title":{"rendered":"Astros Interested In Red Sox Starter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Astros\u2019 search for pitching<\/a> doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s over in the slightest. The Astros have made several smaller moves throughout the offseason, along with a couple of significant trades. Houston acquired Mike Burrows<\/a> from the Pirates in a three-team deal earlier in December<\/a> and gave up two prospects in that deal, Jacob Melton and Anderson Brito.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Astros Could Be in Play to Trade for Young Red Sox Starter<\/p>\n

They also traded Mauricio Dub\u00f3n<\/a> to the Braves for infielder Nick Allen. However, the feeling in Houston is that there is at least one more big move waiting to happen for general manager Dana Brown to pull the trigger on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another big trade is likely to involve one of two big-name Astros infielders<\/a>, and it could be Isaac Paredes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More on the Astros Potential Trade<\/p>\n

The Boston Red Sox have been linked to Paredes<\/a>, and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported on Saturday<\/a> that the Red Sox are, in fact, looking at Paredes as an option. The key aspect in all this is the situation with former Astros all-star third baseman Alex Bregman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boston is currently holding up on Bregman in the hopes that he will return to the Red Sox for his second season after he opted out of his three-year, $120 million contract just one year in. While the two-time World Series champion with the Astros may return to Boston, teams such as the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays are in play for Bregman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Red Sox Situation<\/p>\n

The Red Sox<\/a> and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow are clearly looking for backup options in case Bregman does not come back. One of those options is Paredes. Even after acquiring first baseman Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston continues to pursue another infield bat. The Red Sox are also looking into Bo Bichette, as well as other trade candidates such as Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Losing Bregman would create a big void, and the Red Sox know that. Paredes stands out as a realistic target because of his affordability, productive bat, and solid defense. While Donovan is also an intriguing option, let\u2019s say the Red Sox inquire further about Paredes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perfect Trade for the Astros<\/p>\n

This could be a perfect trade partner for the Astros, given the kind of young, talented pitchers Boston has. With the trades earlier this year for starters Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, the Red Sox now have 10 possible rotation options. That includes two rookie pitchers in Connelly Early<\/a> and Payton Tolle. Given the surplus, it is pretty likely that Brown and the Red Sox could reach an agreement if Paredes is who Boston ultimately seeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Houston would likely have to add on a prospect, draft picks, or cash to Boston in the trade, given Early\u2019s upside at just 23 years old. However, he fits the Astros\u2019 mold perfectly and would also generate excitement among fans. The rotation would officially be stabilized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Connelly Early<\/p>\n

Early is major-league ready and would likely slide right into their rotation after Hunter Brown<\/a>, Cristian Javier, and Spencer Arrighetti. The 2023 fifth-round draft pick from Virginia made his major league debut on Sept. 9 and made four regular-season starts. The lefty went 1-2 with a 2.33 ERA across 19.1 innings, adding 29 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-3, 195-lb hurler earned a surprise start in Game Three of the Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium due to Lucas Giolito\u2019s injury. With his first postseason start being just his fifth overall, Early put in a strong effort and got off to a great start. However, he went 3.2 innings and gave up three earned runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some standout performances from Early include a five-inning shutout against the A\u2019s on the road in his debut as well as five innings of two-run ball against the Tigers. Although his fastball velocity is just 94 mph, it seems <\/a>effective, as evidenced by a .176 average in limited action. Early employs a variety of pitches as well, with the fastball at 29%, followed by the curveball and changeup at 21% and 20%, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He can also throw a sinker and slider. Early\u2019s chase, whiff, and walk rates trend in the right direction. If the Astros can package Paredes in this potential deal, it would likely be well worth it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston Astros\u2019 search for pitching doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s over in the slightest. The Astros have made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2389],"tags":[42,5,36543,139,54,3211,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-499724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-astros","8":"tag-astros","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-connelly-early","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-houston-astros","13":"tag-houstonastros","14":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115811651649865137","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}