ORLANDO, Fla. -- Astros general manager Dana Brown and members of the team’s front office left the Winter Meetings on Wednesday having accomplished some of their goals but with a lot of work remaining before Spring Training starts in two months.
The club is still in pursuit of starting pitching, despite adding a pair of arms, and still has to address the backup catcher position. The Astros are aiming to stay below the luxury tax, which is forcing them to get creative. They’ve non-tendered infielder Ramón Urías and traded Mauricio Dubón to the Braves in recent weeks to free up some money to spend on pitching.
Brown said he doesn’t want to trade from the Major League roster, but sources say the club continues to try to move outfielder Jake Meyers, which would force them to go young in center field next year with Zach Cole and Jacob Melton, while saving more money. Meyers is arbitration-eligible for a second time.
Moving Urías helped clear up the Astros’ jammed infield picture, but trading Isaac Paredes would provide further clarity while giving Houston more money to spend on pitching (Paredes made $6,625,000 last season in his second year of arbitration). Brown said the money the Astros have trimmed from their 2026 payroll will be re-invested into the team.
BIGGEST REMAINING NEEDS
1. The Astros have added three pitchers so far this winter, signing Nate Pearson in October and Ryan Weiss from the Korean Baseball Organization earlier this week and taking right-handed reliever Roddery Muñoz in the Rule 5 Draft. Those transactions won’t move the needle much with Astros fans, but they are low-risk moves that could pay big dividends if the club can bring out the best in each of them.
2. Brown said shortly after the season ended that he’d like to bring back veteran catcher Victor Caratini, who’s a free agent, but so far the price is too high. That leaves the Astros with a void behind starter Yainer Diaz, so expect them to bring in another catcher. César Salazar could handle some of the load as a reserve, but the Astros feel they need a more proven commodity at an important position.
HE SAID IT
“We are going to give them a longer look in Spring Training. I think not only they showed that they could play at our level but they did it in an environment where we were in the middle of a playoff hunt, and they were able to handle that very well. And their performance was better than what we all expected. So I am really excited about what these players can do. And I am going to give those guys an opportunity to play a lot in Spring Training and give them an opportunity to make the club.” -- manager Joe Espada on Cole and Melton getting a chance to impact the club next season.
DRAFT LOTTERY
The Astros were in the Draft Lottery for the first time, but didn’t jump into the top six picks. They’ll pick 17th in the first round of next year’s MLB Draft, followed by the No. 28 overall pick -- a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick they received for pitcher Hunter Brown placing in the top three in American League Cy Young voting. A compensation pick for free-agent left-hander Framber Valdez signing with another team would come after the fourth round (Valdez turned down a qualifying offer).
RULE 5 DRAFT
For the first time since 2017, the Astros took a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft when they selected Muñoz, 25, from the Reds. He has pitched in 27 games (17 starts) in the Major Leagues with the Marlins (2024) and Cardinals ('25), posting a 6.73 ERA. In 393 2/3 Minor League innings, he has a 4.76 ERA while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen.
Astros senior director of player personnel Matt Hogan said Muñoz flourished as a reliever in the second half of the season at Triple-A and will compete for a spot in the bullpen. Houston tried to trade for him during last season. Muñoz throws two hard breaking balls and a mid-90s four-seam fastball.
“Obviously, he’s not a traditional Rule 5 pick [because] he’s got big league time, but we thought he turned the corner kind of midyear as a reliever in Triple-A,” Hogan said. “The breaking stuff is very, very good and that's kind of the draw. We think the upside is high-leverage reliever. We think coming into camp he has a real good chance to make the team and fit in our bullpen.”
The Astros paid $100,000 to the Reds for the pick and must keep Muñoz on their active big league roster throughout 2026. Muñoz can't be sent to the Minors without first clearing waivers and then getting offered back to his original organization for half his Draft price.
In the first round of the Triple-A phase, the Astros selected right-hander Trey McLoughlin from the Mets' Double-A roster. He has a 3.43 ERA in 188 2/3 career Minor League innings. They took outfielder Edwin Sanchez from the Dodgers’ Dominican Summer League roster in the second round.
The Astros did not lose a player in the Major League portion of the Draft, though the Athletics took right-handed pitcher Abel Mercedes in the Minor League phase.
DEALS DONE
- Astros dip into KBO to sign Weiss, but continue pursuit of pitching. Read more >>
MORE FROM THIS WEEK
- Astros to sell the three Minor League affiliates they owned. Read more >>
- For the second year in a row, a member of the 2003 Astros will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Read more >>
GM’S BOTTOM LINE
“We're in a similar place we were [Tuesday], with a lot of phone calls and talking to other clubs and agents and still making progress, though, going back and forth. The back and forth is where you want to be, because that means that you feel like you're getting closer.” -- Brown, when asked Wednesday about the club’s pursuit of pitching