Astros May Look to Move On From Struggling Star in Offseason Blockbuster Trade

Some of the moves Brown made last winter were done with the clear intention of attempting a re-tooling instead of a full rebuild, and the wackiness was reflected in some of their defensive decisions.

In an ideal world, Houston would be able to shuffle around their infield to get Jose Altuve back at second base, where he's comfortable, however, it's first base which is looking like the more significant problem at this point.

One year into the Christian Walker era, a best-case scenario is someone taking on the Walker contract and moving Isaac Paredes over to first to form a dynamic right side of the infield with Altuve. In order to do that though, they would have to find a suitor for Walker. Chances are, they will try.

Astros Will Likely Try to Move Off Christian Walker at First Base

Houston backed themselves into a corner when they handed Walker a three-year deal worth $60 million last offseason, now on the hook for $20 million each year for two more seasons. Though admitting defeat on two straight balloon deals for first basemen after the Jose Abreu fiasco would be tough to swallow, now may be the only chance to get rid of Walker.

He did find his footing in the second half a bit, slashing .250/.312/.488 with 15 home runs over the final 64 games to lead the team on the year with 27 long balls.

This was on the heels of .229/.286/.374 slash line over his first 90 games though, and the overall body of work for Walker doesn't justify the salary with just a 0.2 bWAR over 154 games played.

The second half for Walker though could convince a team to take a chance on him which is something the Astros cannot pass up even if it means eating a significant chunk of the contract now to shed it in the future.

Houston Should Cut Losses Now with Walker

Though eating more salary on a player not to play for you is never ideal, it's better than paying an even higher number for the player to be an active detractor on the lineup and on the field.

Walker was not as advertised either offensively or defensively, but he did just enough that someone would be willing to take a chance on him and get the Astros out of a bad deal beyond this season. If the return and agreed salary split is fair, it would not be surprised to see Houston once again hit the reset button at first base.