Recent Moves Show Why Astros Backed Off Trade Discussions with Marlins

The Houston Astros are reportedly out on one Miami Marlins pitcher in trade talks.

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The Houston Astros are in the market for some starting pitching this offseason. Ace Framber Valdez is moving on in free agency, it appears, and while it is not surprising, it leaves a rather big hole in the Astros' starting rotation.

General manager Dana Brown replacing Valdez is not going to be easy, as some of the top options in free agency have already signed elsewhere, with Valdez being the biggest remaining target in free agency.

The likeliest route for general manager Dana Brown to find a No. 2 pitcher to go along with Hunter Brown is a trade. Some arms have been rumored to be available, like McKenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals and Brayan Bello of the Boston Red Sox. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has reportedly "shopped" Bello's name in trade talks, according to the Boston Globe (subscription required).

There is another team that has a couple of starting pitchers that clubs are interested in with the Miami Marlins. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Houston was in talks with the Marlins about Edward Cabrera, but has since backed off in trade discussions.

Astros Reportedly Out on Marlins Pitchers in Potential Trades

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Jackson posted on X that the Astros and Baltimore Orioles are no longer involved with Miami about Cabrera and that the Marlins want to keep Sandy Alcantara. To see that Houston is no longer involved in trade talks with Miami is not surprising for a couple of reasons.

One, they just made a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a three-team deal to acquire right-hander Mike Burrows. Now, he isn't the No. 2 pitcher that Houston needs, but he's rotation depth. The second reason it's not surprising that Houston is no longer in trade talks with the Marlins is that they traded away two of their top prospects to acquire Burrows.

Factor in that Miami's asking price for Cabrera is high, and rightfully so, there is just not a lot that Dana Brown can offer Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix that would entice him to trade Cabrera. Either Cabrera or Alcantara would be a perfect addition to Houston's rotation, but meeting the asking price would be extremely difficult.

Just how Brown fills out the rotation remains to be seen, but options are going to slowly dwindle the deeper we get into the winter. Burrows is a good start for the middle to backend of the rotation, but another pitcher is needed for fans to feel better going into 2026.

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