Astros Major Offseason Acquisition Shockingly Predicted to Win AL MVP

The Houston Astros lost an MVP candidate this offseason, but did they replace him with another one?

Mar 5, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; Houston Astros third base Isaac Paredes (15) hits a double against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros shipped away an MVP candidate this offseason, but did they get another back in return?

The baseball staff over at The Athletic was recently polled for their preseason awards predictions.

While most of staff agreed that the AL MVP would likely go to either Bobby Witt or Aaron Judge, there were a couple other players that got nods.

Grant Brisbee went with one of the biggest long shots, naming Astros slugging third baseman Isaac Paredes his pick.

Paredes was not the centerpiece of the Kyle Tucker trade with the Chicago Cubs, so him breaking out into even just being a candidate would be a massive win for Houston.

The 26-year-old did finish in 18th-place for the AL MVP back in 2023, but actually winning it would take a huge jump in production. Luckily for Paredes, he is in exactly the park that he needs to be for that.

Daikin Park is a right-handed batter friendly park thanks to the Crawford Boxes sitting in left field. Paredes happens to be one of the most pull-heavy batters in the league, so it is a match made in heaven.

He had the third-highest pull rate in MLB last year at 53.7%. His now teammate on the Astros, Jose Altuve, was first with 55.6%.

If all of his hits were in Daikin last season, he would have finished with around eight more home runs and gone up to 27. Given that he can play to his strengths more, actually playing there for a full season could help him reach new heights.

He has gone just 2-for-21 at the plate when playing in Houston for his career, but both of those hits were home runs.

Paredes is coming off of a season where he posted a .238/.346/.393 slash line with 19 home runs and 80 RBI. He had an OPS+ of 112.

The hope in picking him to win the AL MVP would be that the stint with the Cubs was just an extreme outlier and that he can return to the pace he starter in 2023.

That campaign, he slashed .250/.352/.488 with 31 home runs and 98 RBI with an OPS+ of 130. If they can find that hitter within him again, with the bonus of playing in Daikin, it actually wouldn't be too much of a stretch to see him become at least a candidate.

He didn't get off to the hottest start this spring with a .188/.395/.313 slash line, but he has still yet to play in his new home.