But Houston could use Paredes at first base while swinging another blockbuster trade to acquire a third baseman. The first name that comes to mind is St. Louis Cardinals infielder Nolan Arenado, who the Cardinals are desperately trying to trade.
Arenado has $52 million left on his contract and St. Louis is reportedly willing to eat a good chunk of the deal to trade him. But he also has a no-trade clause and the Astros aren’t one of the six teams he would reportedly waive his no-trade clause for.
If Arenado changes his mind, which seems to be where we’re headed, the Astros could swing a blockbuster trade to bring him in.
Here’s a deal that would bring Arenado to Houston to replace the aforementioned Bregman:
- Houston Astros receive: 3B Nolan Arenado, $20 million
- St. Louis Cardinals receive: RHP A.J. Blubaugh (No. 10 prospect), RHP Rhett Kouba (No. 25 prospect)
The first step in this deal would be getting Arenado to clear the trade to the Astros. With the Cardinals trying to discard him so aggressively, Arenado is likely to expand his list as the offseason pushes on.
In this deal, Houston lands Arenado to replace Bregman which would save them quite a bit of money. St. Louis is sending $20 million in the deal, which pays about 40 percent of his remaining deal. Instead of spending $200 million on Bregman, they acquire Arenado for two prospects.
For the Cardinals, they dump $32 million of Arenado’s contract while also bringing in two pitching prospects. Blubaugh is a 24-year-old prospect with great potential. He was solid in 2024 and the right-hander looks to take another step forward in 2025. Kouba had a great first three years of his career, but took a massive step back in 2024. A change of scenery would be good for him and St. Louis would land a great buy-low prospect.
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