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The 2024 Winter Meetings are underway and Houston Astros GM Dana Brown‘s phone is on.
Asked if he would listen to offers on Kyle Tucker or Framber Valdez, the Astros' general manager told Chandler Rome of The Athletic that he will “listen on anybody.”
“We’re not trying to aggressively move anybody out the door, but if someone wants to talk, that’s part of being at the Winter Meetings,” Brown added.
“Sometimes guys will think outside the box and say, ‘Hey would you guys do this guy or that guy.’ If it doesn’t make sense, we wouldn’t do it. It would really have to make sense. We’re a good team and we’re not motivated to move any of these guys.”
Tucker has been an All-Star each of the past three seasons as has developed into one of the best outfielders in the American League. He will hit free agency after next season, however, so it might make sense for the Astros to trade him now rather than risk losing him for nothing. ESPN's Buster Olney says evaluators are already talking about the payday Tucker could receive in light of Juan Soto's monster contract with the Mets.
As for Valdez, he has quietly been one of the more consistent pitchers in the American League since 2020. He went 15-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 2024, his age 30 season. He also has one more season of arbitration before hitting free agency.
Dana Brown says the Astros are good enough to win the AL West without one of Kyle Tucker or Framber Valdez
If the Astros opt to trade Tucker or Valdez, don't look at it as the team punting on 2025 and building for the future. Asked directly if he thinks the Astros could win the AL West without one of those two, Brown replied, “Yes, I think we could.”
He added that he is not interested in rebuilding the roster. Any trade would have to make sense for 2025.
“I think the team is good enough to,” Brown said. “It depends on what you get back in the return if you decide to go that way, but we will not make any trades that don’t make sense in terms of winning the division, getting back to the postseason and all that. We’re not trying to break the team down. The trade would have to make sense in that we’re not weakening our club.”
The Astros went 88-73 in 2024, still winning the AL West as the only division champion in baseball not to hit 90 wins. The Detroit Tigers swept them out of the 2024 Wild Card Series, keeping them out of the ALCS for the first time since 2016.
