This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON – The trade that brought Mauricio Dubón to the Astros from the Giants in May 2022 won’t be remembered to be as impactful to the club as the deal that brought Yordan Alvarez to the Astros from the Dodgers in 2017 or the one that landed first baseman Jeff Bagwell from the Red Sox in 1990.

Dubón won’t wind up in the Hall of Fame like Bagwell -- and perhaps Alvarez -- but there was a case to be made he was one of the team’s most valuable players in 2023. Dubón began the season as the team’s Opening Day second baseman while Jose Altuve was on the injured list with a fractured thumb and spent much of the rest of the season as the team's top-notch utility player.

In the regular season, he started games at second base, shortstop, first base, center field and left field, while appearing in games at right field and third base. Dubón slashed .278/.309/.411 in the regular season with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs and had a 20-game hitting streak early in the season. Earlier this week, he was revealed as a finalist for an AL Gold Glove at two positions -- second base and the utility position.

“I feel very prideful in what I do, my defense,” he said. “I prepare myself every day to play whatever position I get to play. If I'm not playing, I think that's the hardest day because I've got to prepare for seven positions. So I think that's the biggest thing for me, just how I try not to make mistakes on defense, but sometimes it's going to happen.”

Dubón started 35 of the team’s first 42 games at second base after Altuve fractured his thumb in the World Baseball Classic and required surgery. He started 13 consecutive games at second base in July while Altuve was dealing with an oblique injury.

Dubón appeared in six postseason games in last year’s run to the World Series title, but all were as a defensive replacement. He didn’t get an at-bat. So far this October, he’s appeared in seven games (five starts) and is 8-for-22, batting .364 with eight singles.

“He's been amazing,” Altuve said. “We all know that. He loves playing the game. He loves showing up every day. And playing wherever he gets to play -- it can be shortstop, second base, center field, left field. And he hits. And more than that, he's a great teammate.

“He's always rooting for the team whether he's playing or not. And probably I don't think we'd be here without him. He's been such a big part of this lineup, this team, this organization this year. And I know he had more to do with this postseason because he's been playing really good. And just hopefully he keeps playing and getting big hits for us.”

Dubón, who was traded for Minor League catcher Michael Papierski, said getting dealt from the Giants saved his career. He felt underappreciated and underutilized in San Francisco, where he played in 177 games from 2019-22. 

“I think obviously it was the best thing for my career, [getting] the opportunity,” he said. “I was telling somebody that I got smarter, I got a little stronger. But my ability hasn't changed. For me it was a matter of getting a chance. And thanks to the Astros, they gave me a chance to get out there and show people what I can do.”