The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs agreed to a shocking trade on Friday, as outfielder Kyle Tucker will be going to Chicago in exchange for Isaac Paredes, 2024 first-rounder Cam Smith, and swingman Hayden Wesneski. With Tucker in his final year of control before hitting the free agent market, the Astros got a pretty solid haul back.
In addition to trading away Tucker, the Astros also are bracing for the possibility of losing Alex Bregman in free agency. That would leave just Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Ryan Pressly, and Justin Verlander from their 2019 World Series roster (when they lost to the Nationals). With that much talent leaving the organization, it's easy to ask if their current championship window is closing.
After finally missing ALCS, where do Astros go from here?
The Astros were at the top of the baseball world from 2017 to 2023, appearing in seven straight American League Championship Series, four World Series, and winning two of them.
Thanks to a legendary tank job in the early 2010s, great player development, and making great trades at the right times, they were able to stay near the top of the AL for seven years. However, there comes a price for that success, as not all runs are meant to last.
Key contributors from that run have since moved on to other teams, mostly in free agency. Key players such as Carlos Correa, George Springer, Yuli Gurriel, and Gerrit Cole are long gone, in search of greener pastures with other teams, although the team has been able to absorb the losses and remain relevant in the postseason picture. 2024 marked the first season where they failed to reach the ALCS in eight years.
They still have a chance to repeat as American League West Champions in 2025, but following that season is when the picture gets even more murky for the Astros. Of their championship core, they could only extend Altuve, Alvarez, and Pressly. Staff ace Framber Valdez is slated to join Pressly in the free agent market following this upcoming season.
Unless they're able to fill all those holes, the Astros could see their tight grip on the AL West come loose in the next few seasons.
It will be incumbent upon the Astros to be able to replace some of the holes on their roster. The Tucker trade address both the short-term and long-term health at third base, with Paredes set to replace Bregman in 2025 and Smith not too long after. They'll need to make equally as shrewd moves in order to extend their contention window beyond next season. What they do next will be anyone's guess.