Carlos Correa Will Be 'Very Much Involved' in Astros' Decision Making This Spring

After being acquired by the Houston Astros ahead of the trade deadline, Carlos Correa is back to being a key figure for this franchise.

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The Houston Astros made a seismic decision ahead of the trade deadline.

With a need to add a right-handed bat and upgrade their infield due to the injury to Isaac Paredes, the Astros pulled off a shocking blockbuster when they acquired their former face of the franchise in Carlos Correa from the Minnesota Twins.

The past No. 1 overall pick who lived up to the hype and more during his first tenure in Houston will now be part of this organization for the foreseeable future. And that has completely changed the outlook of this franchise going forward.

Due to Correa's previous status for the Astros and the type of player and personality he is, he immediately became the leader of the clubhouse. And now it sounds like he's going to be heavily involved in shaping how Houston operates this spring.

Carlos Correa Will Have Say in What Gets Addressed This Spring

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Manager Joe Espada said he's going to lean on the leaders of the team to figure out what needs to be addressed this spring so Houston can get back to being one of the top clubs in the American League. And because Correa is now one of the clear leaders, he'll be involved in that process.

"He will be very much involved in my discussions of things we're going to address in spring training," Espada said, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic (subscription required). "I, personally, like to empower some of our leaders to have a say in how we're going to address aspects of our game we need to address."

What that's going to be isn't exactly clear. But the one thing that's been noticeably different about the Espada-led Astros teams compared to the past iterations is the lack of offensive production that has occurred the past two seasons.

Will Offensive Changes Come for Astros?

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Correa was vocal when he believed the team had a good offensive approach during a game and when he felt they had a poor one. And while he won't be able to make overarching changes that could come -- like hitting coaches Alex Cintron and Troy Snitker getting replaced -- the veteran infielder can try to push the offensive strategy to being what they used to do in the past.

Not chasing, being selective, working counts and putting the ball in play were staples of how Houston operated at the plate during their peak, which is not something that occurred last year with the second-highest chase rate and third-highest swing rate that resulted in seeing the third-fewest pitches per plate appearance.

So how much of an impact Correa will actually have this spring isn't clear, but it's interesting to hear he's going to be leaned upon when it comes to getting the Astros back on track as contenders.