Last month's three-team trade between the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Tampa Bay Rays impacted Houston's willingness to deal additional prospects this offseason.
"The Houston Astros were another team to show interest in [Freddy] Peralta, but they dropped out last month after trading top prospect Jacob Melton as part of a three-way trade that landed them starter Mike Burrows," The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal wrote Friday.
Perhaps the Astros would've been more aggressive in their pursuit of Peralta, traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the New York Mets on Wednesday, had they not included Melton, their ex-No. 2 prospect, in the deal for Burrows.
Hunter Brown: Undisputed ace
As time passes, it's become abundantly clear that free agent starting pitcher Framber Valdez is unlikely to return to the Astros for next season and beyond.
Now that Peralta is off the table and Valdez's expected departure, Hunter Brown is the undisputed ace of the Astros. He finished third in AL Cy Young voting in 2025, posting a 6.1 bWAR in 31 starts.
Joining Brown in the rotation will be Cristian Javier, Tatsuya Imai, Lance McCullers Jr., and Burrows.
More Astros news:
- Cubs predicted to poach Astros ace after missing out on Tatsuya Imai
- Tatsuya Imai signing not expected to change Astros interest in reunion with Framber Valdez
- Insider provides new details on Mets pursuit of Astros’ Tatsuya Imai
- Cubs get important update on Astros’ Framber Valdez after Houston signed Tatsuya Imai
- Astros slugger reportedly being viewed as a trade target for the Red Sox after earning his second All-Star nod last season
- Astros predicted to sign Rangers All-Star and World Series champion who was recently non-tendered