I'll Say This About That - Volume III

You say it best, when you say nothing at all

The GM Meetings are done and Astros General Manager Dana Brown had plenty to say about the plans for 2026.

Or did he?

A lot of what was said was already known, or at least thought to be known, and while it seems like Brown “confirmed” the roles of multiple players, statements on others mean the plan is murky at best.

That’s OK, it’s November and Brown has to cover himself in case something breaks and in case nothing breaks.

Let’s hope by February we have a clearer picture of what 2026 will look like.

A Christian Walker trade has not been discussed, and Brown said Walker was his everyday first baseman who would get some time off, with Isaac Paredes stepping in.

I hadn’t given this idea much thought, as I see both as everyday players, but perhaps this could work to some degree. While Paredes was fairly consistent home or away, Walker was terrible at Daikin (.202/.279/.342, 71 OPS+).

Paredes can also play third when Correa needs a break and Walker can be a defensive replacement at first late in games.

Joe Espada did a fantastic job of juggling players, positions and lineups last season and this could mean more of that this season.

It wasn’t an outright denial that Walker could be traded and $20 million for a part-time first baseman feels a bit rich.

I’m skeptical, but optimistic.

Brown was more emphatic that Paredes is important to this lineup, which complicates his remarks on Walker being an “everyday” first baseman, making it feel unlikely that both are on the roster come opening day.

Brown was covering his bases and letting anyone listening know that he considers Walker an everyday player, not a salary dump.

Cam Smith has work to do to retain his starting position in right field, or even a roster spot.

I mentioned a version of this last month, opining that Smith would likely be the first out there in Spring, but the Astros can’t continue forever with 9 HRs from the position or a .163/.261/.269 slash over 120 at-bats as Smith finished 2025 with.

The question is who fills that void.

As mentioned last month, I lean towards Zach Cole vs. Jesus Sanchez, but that’s based solely on what I saw last year and not a deep analysis. In short, the upside from Cole, strikeouts notwithstanding, is greater than that of Sanchez, who may have already peaked and that doesn’t even include salary considerations, where the Astros could save up to around $6,000,000.

One would think Cole has the lower floor, but Sanchez was so bad in Houston last season (.199/.269/.342, 69 OPS+) that I’m not sure that’s true.

Some injury updates: Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena are “fine”, Josh Hader is throwing off a mound, Yordan Alvarez should be ready for Spring Training, with Paredes being ready for Opening Day.

I should credit Chandler Rome of The Athletic, for providing a lot of this info to the public on X.

Speaking of injury news, the Astros are reevaluating their return-to-play procedures, which, as we all know, require significant improvement.

The Astros are also making changes to the coaching staff, most notably the structure of the ”hitting department”.

I don’t know enough about the details to comment intelligently, but it was clear change was needed, if for nothing other than a reset.

That said, I’m always reminded of the basketball coach who was asked what he could do to improve his team’s free-throw shooting and replied, “Recruit better free-throw shooters.”

If you want a different type of hitter, you need to draft, develop and acquire that type, not hope that a 10-year vet is going to change his approach to any appreciable degree in the short-term.

Thanks for reading!