Report: Astros and Cubs Had Agreed to Willson Contreras, José Urquidy Swap At Deadline

Back before the trade deadline, the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs had agreed to a one-for-one swap of José Urquidy for Willson Contreras, but the deal fell through.

Author:
Ben Silver
Publish date:
Nov 7, 2022 2:00 PM EST

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Houston Astros

The Houston Astros won the World Series despite making any blockbuster moves at the trade deadline. Sure, Trey Mancini, Christian Vázquez and Will Smith are all notable players that aided their postseason run, but none made major impacts.

One player who almost certainly would have is Willson Contreras.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Chicago Cubs had agreed to a one-for-one swap between Contreras and José Urquidy. The deal was pending owner approval, but Jim Crane, who's relationship with general manager James Click has been reportedly rocky, never agreed to the deal.

With only two months remaining on his contract, the Astros would have mortgaged three more years of Urquidy for a more stable designated hitter — potentially a starting catcher — and a better chance at winning the World Series.

Apparently, they never needed Contreras in the first place, and it's a good thing the move was never made. Contreras suffered an injury at the Field of Dreams game in mid-August which hampered him the rest of the year. Despite playing through pain for several weeks, he was out from Aug. 30 through Sept. 27.

While post-trade deadline, Urquidy was a dependable innings eater, making nine starts on 57.0 innings for a 4.11 ERA.

Neither player was particularly brilliant, but the Astros get their cake and now they'll eat it too. They won the World Series and they get to keep Urquidy, who pitched three scoreless innings in the postseason, all of which came in the World Series.