Astros Biggest Offseason Regret Being Softened by Emerging Star Prospect

When a team loses as much talent as the Houston Astros did in a single offseason, it is hard to come away feeling many positives.

This past winter marked the end of an era for the franchise as they said goodbye to four more players from their 2022 World Series-winning team.

Star third baseman Alex Bregman and starting pitcher Justin Verlander were both free agents. They signed lucrative deals with the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants.

Relief pitcher Ryan Pressly was traded to the Chicago Cubs in what amounted to a salary dump.

Alas, he wasn’t the only player whom the Astros traded to the Cubs this offseason.

Earlier in the winter, they made the difficult decision to move on from their star right fielder, Kyle Tucker.

Houston seemingly came to the conclusion that they wouldn’t be able to pay him long-term after seeing the money that Juan Soto received in free agency from the New York Mets. Instead of losing him for nothing, they went against their normal way of doing business and traded the three-time All-Star ahead of his last year of club control.

It is the move that the Astros will come to regret the most, in the opinion of Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report.

“If there was a player worth backing up the truck for, it was Kyle Tucker. Instead, ahead of his contract year, the Astros traded him to the Chicago Cubs…Some guys are worth going beyond your financial comfort zone for,” Kelly wrote.

Many fans and analysis would agree that Tucker is the exact kind of player you look to build your franchise around.

He is only 28 years old, just entering his athletic prime with plenty of excellent seasons ahead. His track record talks for itself when it comes to production, just look at what was accomplished in 2024.

Despite playing in only 78 games with 339 plate appearances, he had a 4.7 WAR on Baseball Reference with a .289/.408/.585 slash line, hitting 23 home runs with 13 doubles and 11 stolen bases.

On top of his excellent numbers at the plate, Tucker is an excellent defensive player in right field.

That kind of two-way play is not easy to find and are worth keeing once they emerge.

While trading Tucker is going to make it more difficult for Houston to compete in 2025, the move doesn’t look all bad for the franchise.

Veteran third baseman Isaac Paredes was acquired in the deal and can slide right into Bregman’s spot at the hot corner. His swing is perfect for Daikin Park and the Crawford Boxes in left field.

But, the crown jewel of the return package for the Astros is star prospect Cam Smith.

He has been tearing it up in spring training, making a legitimate push for the Opening Day roster.

His performance has certainly softened the blow of losing Tucker, looking like a future All-Star himself.

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