Astros rumors: Insider makes trade deadline predictions, including 1 for Yordan Alvarez

The Houston Astros have had a season to forget so far. One Major League Baseball insider feels that a lot of movement could be happening in Houston ahead of the MLB trade deadline. Chandler Rome thinks that one player will be staying put, though.

That player is Yordan Alvarez, the team’s star slugger.

“I don’t think Yordan Alvarez will be traded. But, when other teams inquire, it would be malpractice for the Astros not to listen — even if they maintain their position as buyers,” Rome wrote for The Athletic.

Alvarez is becoming a favorite to win the American League MVP, Chandler thinks. That could ultimately help Houston if the club does decide to trade him.

“The prospect haul Houston would receive for him could revitalize its fallow farm system. It would also signal the beginning of a rebuild that owner Jim Crane has vowed will never happen under his watch,” Rome added. “Crane has long maintained that the Astros’ championship window “will always be open” during his ownership tenure. Trading Alvarez would run counter to this claim. Bear in mind, too, that Alvarez is playing on the second-biggest contract Crane has ever given out.”

While Rome thinks that the Astros will keep Alvarez, he does point to one specific area of need the team needs to address.

“The Astros’ outfield began this six-game road trip with a .301 on-base percentage. Only three outfields in franchise history have finished with a lower one: the 1964 Colt .45’s, along with the 2012 and 2013 Astros — two teams that combined to lose 218 games,” he wrote.

Houston is 31-37 on the season. The team is currently fourth in the American League West.

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