The Houston Astros might have to upgrade two spots across their infield this offseason, and one of their top prospects could change his position to make that happen
Much of what the Houston Astros are going to do this offseason centers around re-signing Alex Bregman to a long-term contract that would lock down their third base position for the foreseeable future.
The organization knew they would be playing with fire this winter regarding the possibility that he could end up with a new team in free agency once they didn’t agree to an extension prior to this season.
Bregman is now the best third baseman on the market, and seems to be in-line to get a massive deal the Astros might not be willing to match considering their financial situation.
Knowing this, there were some players in the pipeline who were being viewed as his potential replacements, but throughout the year, it was clear none of those players were ready to step in and man the Hot Corner on a full-time basis without there being a significant drop off in production.
That’s not an indictment on those youngsters, it’s more so pointing out just how good Bregman continues to be with a 116 OPS+, his most home runs in a season since 2019, and a defensive bWAR of 1.0 where he was worth six Outs Above Average this year.
If the franchise legend does decide to leave, Houston will have to deal with finding his replacement in addition to upgrading first base.
The Astros struggled to get production from that position even after they cut Jose Abreu, finishing the season third-worst in Wins Above Replacement with a -1.4 value per FanGraphs.
It was a rotating cast that was primarily manned by Jon Singleton until manager Joe Espada didn’t quite trust his defense enough to use him in the playoffs, instead opting to start backup catcher Victor Caratini instead.
How Houston is going to upgrade this position becomes the question.
Again, since they have financial constraints, that seems to take them out of the running for some high-profile free agents this winter, especially if they are focused on finding the money to pay Bregman.
Because of that, Chandler Rome of The Athletic thinks it will be their No. 5-ranked prospect, Zach Dezenzo, who could change positions to first base instead of playing third like he has primarily done throughout his minor league career.
“Christian Walker, Josh Bell and Carlos Santana are other free-agent first basemen, though prospect Zach Dezenzo could factor in if Houston wants to keep Singleton as a platoon player against right-handed pitching,” he poses.
The interesting thing is the 24-year-old got most of his work at first base when he was first promoted to The Show on Aug. 6, appearing in 14 games there and starting 12, compared to three appearances and no starts at third base.
In the minors, Dezenzo got 120 games at third base and just 26 at first in comparison.
The Astros are clearly weighing a ton of options this offseason, and because of that, one of their top prospects could wind up changing his position as a result of that.
