Report: Astros are targeting a new starting pitcher on trade market

The Houston Astros are further opening up their offseason playbook.

Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Shane Baz has emerged as a target in the Astros’ search for starting pitching, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported on Monday. While Rome notes that no deal is close, he adds that Houston’s interest in trading for Baz is “real.”

Baz, 26, has been with the Rays for his entire MLB career. Last season for Tampa, Baz went 10-13 with a 4.87 ERA but also struck out a career-high 176 batters through 31 starts. In 2024, Baz had a strong campaign as well, going 4-3 with a 3.06 ERA and 69 strikeouts through just 14 starts.

That said, Baz has struggled with injuries in recent years too. He missed most of the 2022 season and all of the 2023 season with a right elbow injury that later required Tommy John surgery. As such, Baz carries some risk and also remains fairly unproven at the big-league level with just 286.0 total career innings pitched.

Still though, Tampa Bay’s asking price for Baz could potentially be steep. He remains under club control for three more seasons and improved his stock in 2025 by throwing 166.1 innings coming off Tommy John.

As for the Astros, they are clearly trying to improve their rotation this winter, especially with longtime ace Framber Valdez looking like he could potentially leave the team as a free agent. In addition to Baz, Houston was just linked to an interesting All-Star starting pitcher in trade rumors a few days ago.