The Houston Astros should take a chance on this blockbuster trade project

The Houston Astros have had a very unlucky start to the 2024 season, but are gradually getting out of the mud.

They could further solidify their roster by pulling off a blockbuster trade. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden had one in mind that would certainly be intriguing to Houston.

In this trade, the Astros send first baseman/outfielder Joey Loperfido and outfielder Kenedy Corona to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero is set to become an unrestricted free agent after next season, and Toronto has yet to sign him to an extension. If they decide to maximize their value for him and trade him sooner rather than later, Houston should absolutely take advantage of this opportunity.

Much has been made of the traditional slugger’s slow start to the season, but he’s been heating up lately.

In May, he slashed .313/.389/.536 with a grand slam to show for it.

Digging deeper into his numbers, there is only one big difference in his approach this year compared to the rest of his career. He hits a lot more, but he also walks a lot more. The ratio hasn’t changed much, but it just makes more of each.

He’s hitting balls out of the zone less, but when he does, he’s missing them at a much higher rate than before. His contact% on pitches outside the zone has hovered around 57% over the last two seasons. In 2024, it fell to 35.7%.

Overall, though, he should probably return to form and this recent hot spell is a good sign of things to come.

As far as what they give up in this business, it’s not much.

Loperfido lit up the minor leagues to start the year, hitting 13 homers in his first 35 games. It’s still early in his MLB career, but the power hasn’t translated through his first five games as he has yet to record an extra-base hit.

With Houston’s rookie being the same age as Guerrero, the proven option is probably the best one to take for a team hoping to return to the postseason. You also don’t sacrifice becoming much younger at first base. The biggest loss is that Guerrero doesn’t offer the same versatility on the court.

Corona is the 12th overall prospect in Astro’s pipeline and is another replaceable player. He’s hitting just .185/.340/.309 to start the year in AA ball.

The two sides also recently completed a trade involving relief pitcher Joel Kuhnel, so there is somewhat of a working relationship between the two front offices.