Astros’ Isaac Paredes opens up about trade rumors after reporting to camp

The Houston Astros are running into the problem of lacking the quality prospects needed to sustain a contending team year-in, year-out as they look to supplement their aging core. During this year’s free agency, they lost one of their best pitchers in Framber Valdez, and they’ve mostly stood pat other than a few trades, including the salary dump of exceptional infield defender Mauricio Dubon to the Atlanta Braves.

Considering how stacked the Astros are in the infield, there’s no surprise that Isaac Paredes has found himself at the center of trade rumors aplenty. However, with Spring Training on the horizon, Paredes is still somehow a member of the Astros organization. He is a productive player when healthy, but the Astros are looking to dangle him in trades to address other positions of need, including their desire for a left-handed bat.

Moreover, Paredes is facing an extremely crowded infield picture in Houston. Be that as it may, Paredes is holding steady despite the trade rumors, and he knows that being traded away is nothing new to him anyway.

“This is where I thought I was going to be the whole time, so let’s just see what happens,” Paredes said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “I only control what I do on the field. That’s the part I’m focused on. Whatever they’re going to do, that’s out of my control.”

Isaac Paredes could still help the Astros

Paredes has done nothing but produce whenever he’s on the field; last season, he hit 20 home runs and drove in 53 runs in 438 plate appearances across 102 games. His OPS was at .810, and he’s only 26 years of age.

Alas, the Astros don’t have much in the way of trade value, so Paredes stands out as one of their most tradeable assets. Even then, it shouldn’t be the worst idea in the world if he stays in Houston.

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