Houston Astros Select Intriguing Corner Infielder in Latest MLB Mock Draft

The Houston Astros lost Alex Bregman in free agency last offseason, as he signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox.

Sure, the deal comes with player opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. But, clearly, Bregman isn’t returning to Houston anytime soon.

Isaac Paredes, who was acquired by the Astros from the Chicago Cubs in the Kyle Tucker trade, has been an impressive third baseman this season. The deal is not only helping the Astros now, but it should later. Paredes can’t be a free agent until 2028.

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After that? Well, Houston may need some help on the hot corner.

As they prepare to select No. 21 overall in this year’s MLB draft, the race may be on to find a player that be Paredes’ heir apparent.

Baseball America recently dropped its latest first-round MLB mock draft, and the publication has Houston selecting a prep third baseman, Xavier Neyens, who plays at Mount Vernon (Wash.) High School.

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The author, Carlos Collazo, wrote that there are a couple of factors that could influence Houston’s first-round pick. First, Houston has the fourth-smallest bonus pool in the draft at $7.2 million.

Second, the Astros don’t have a second-round and fifth-round pick, the result of signing a free agent that was tendered a qualifying offer and turned it down — first baseman Christian Walker, formerly of Arizona.

“… they could make a lot of sense for an off-the-board play on a deal,” Collazo wrote.

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Baseball America ranks Neyens as the No. 19 player overall in the draft. So Houston would get solid value with this selection.

The 2025 MLB draft will be held Sunday and Monday, July 13-14, during All-Star Weekend in Atlanta.

The Astros selected Sam Houston catcher Walker Janek in the first round of last year’s draft. He’s the starting catcher at High-A Asheville.

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Houston’s 2023 first-round pick was Brice Matthews, a Houston native who played his college baseball at Nebraska. He has already ascended to Triple-A Sugar Land.

The Astros selected outfielder Drew Gilbert out of Tennessee in the first round of the 2022 draft. Gilbert was included in the Justin Verlander trade with the New York Mets in 2023.

Houston did not have first-round selections in the 2020 and 2021 MLB drafts, which were surrendered due to the electronic sign-stealing scandal that emerged after the Astros’ World Series victory in 2017.

For more Astros news, head over to Astros On SI.