Any first baseman showing signs of life in his bat will no doubt end up the target of Houston Astros trade rumors. The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker, however, tops Houston’s wish list, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.
Heyman gave a slew of updates on Thursday night, July 4, mentioning how he expects Houston to approach the upcoming trade deadline.
“The Astros, now a clear threat to win the West yet again, seek a starter (or two) and a hitter (possibly a 1B if it’s a clear upgrade),” he wrote. “Their dream target is thought to be Diamondbacks 1B Christian Walker, a free agent to be.”
Walker has won the last two National League Gold Gloves at first base and is having a career year at the plate. In 87 games, he is hitting .271 with 22 home runs and an .871 OPS. Compare that with all Houston first basemen, who this year have combined to hit .204 with 9 homers and a .598 OPS.
As the July 30 trade deadline creeps closer, Houston has emerged as a clear buyer, despite an awful start to the 2024 season. Winners of 12 of their last 14, the Astros are now three games above .500 and just two games behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West. That’s after finishing April just 10-19.
The Diamondbacks, however, also are in the playoff picture at 43-44 and just 2.5 games out of the National League’s third wild card spot after beating the Dodgers two out of three games.
Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said he hoped to be a buyer rather than seller at the trade deadline but was “not ready to commit to that yet based on what he’s seen so far from his team,” according to a July 1 story by MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert.
Christian Walker Could Be the Best Trade Target for the Astros
For as long as the Astros are buyers and the Toronto Blue Jays apparent sellers, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be a popular name in trade speculation. But he’s due $19.9 million this year, and with one more year of arbitration, will be even more expensive to hang onto. Walker, on the other hand, is making $10.9 million this year and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
While 25-year-old Guerrero, who is much younger than Walker (33), would be the clear better move for the future, that’s not necessarily the case for the period Houston is concerned about right now: August to October 2024. Guerrero is hitting for a higher average (.296), but Walker’s power numbers are better.
Both players would require Houston to send a massive haul back to the Diamondbacks or Blue Jays, but Toronto would probably ask for more because it would be dealing a younger player with another year of team control and who has generally been the more prominent face of his franchise.
The State of First Base in Houston
Since the Astros parted with Jose Abreu in mid-June, Jon Singleton has gotten the bulk of the reps at first base. By themselves, his numbers are underwhelming (.238 BA, 99 OPS+, -0.1 bWAR). But his bat has shown some life over the last two weeks.
In the nine games since June 21, Singleton his hitting .370 with a .970 OPS and an other-worldly .563 on balls in play. His hard contact rate is 41.2% in that time, compared to his 25.2% season average. He also has a 0% soft contact rate and his line drive percentage has ticked up a few points as well.
That’s all promising, but Singleton is also 32 and has been in the majors on and off since 2014. At some point, you are what your career numbers say you are, and for him, that’s a sub-.200 hitter. That should far outweigh a nine-game sample size.
Still, his hot streak is something worth monitoring as the Astros figure out their priorities for where to add in the next few weeks.
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Houston Astros Eye Christian Walker as ‘Dream Target’ at Trade Deadline: Report