At the start of the offseason, the Rangers seemed like a no-brainer landing spot for Story, a Dallas native, but then the team's monumental investments in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien seemed to quash that notion. It’s difficult to imagine any of these players commanding a multiyear deal, either, so there would likely be some added flexibility should one of Houston’s prospects be ready to take over at midseason. None of these players is a particularly exciting or ideal long-term replacement for Correa, but for an Astros team that obviously intends to compete in 2022, almost any of these guys could be a reasonable option to plug in while the organization waits for its prospects to develop. But would Villar feel comfortable returning to the site of the hilariously infamous butt slide? It’s tough to say.Ī short-term free agent: Josh Harrison, Donovan Solano, Jose Iglesias, Andrelton Simmons, Matt Duffy, Charlie Culberson, Chris Owings, Eric Sogard, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jordy Mercer Villar, who made his MLB debut with Houston back in 2013, seems like the strongest candidate of this group, as a competent switch-hitter with excellent speed and reasonable defensive chops. Gonzalez was also around for a little bit in 2021, and the organization obviously knows him as well as any of these dudes, but his best days are clearly behind him. Garcia played 81 innings at shortstop for the Astros in 2021 but was a disaster at the plate (.423 OPS), so he doesn’t seem like someone Houston will be eager to bring back either. Lowrie has barely played shortstop since his last stop in Houston in 2015, and he turns 38 in April, so he doesn’t seem like a real option, despite his relative offensive resurgence in 2021. Correa seems to have established himself as a legitimate prospect, the main issue here is that he seems to be in the process of changing positions:Īny of these guys could have a monster spring and force themselves into the mix for the starting shortstop job, but they’d have to beat another top prospect in the process (more on him later).Īn "old friend" in free agency: Jonathan Villar, Jed Lowrie, Marwin Gonzalez, Robel Garcia 310/.368/.464 in 101 games across both levels of A-ball while playing multiple positions, including shortstop. Then the Astros signed Correa as a free agent following his senior year at Lamar in 2020, and he proceeded to have a stellar pro debut in 2021, slashing. So when the Astros selected the younger Correa brother not once but twice - in the 33rd round in 2018 out of Alvin Community College and then in the 38th round in 2019 out of Lamar University - I didn’t make much of it, especially considering how late the picks were. It’s not uncommon to see teams draft relatives of star players or prominent front-office members - or at least, it wasn’t when the MLB Draft was 40 rounds long. Not gonna happen, but it would be really funny: J.C. Here’s a comprehensive list of who could be playing shortstop for Houston on Opening Day, broken into several categories:
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