Astros: 3 free agents to make up for Carlos Correa’s production

Colin Moran

Yes, correct, you’re right. Colin Moran is not a shortstop. He’s a first baseman. He’s not even an overwhelmingly great hitter. He also probably has no business ever lining up at shortstop. What on earth is he doing in this list?

Think of this solution as a stopgap. It’s just until someone like Jeremy Pena or Pedro Leon is ready to go at shortstop. Once that happens, the Astros can move on from Moran (unless he is better than expected). Until then, we’re going to have some fun and shuffle things around.

Let’s try to replace Correa in a slightly different way. There may not be a perfect fit a shortstop even though this round of free agents actually has several talented options available. If the Astros are going to be cheap, let’s find an inexpensive option to help fill the gap that losing Correa would leave in the lineup.

Moran is a decent first baseman who is an okay hitter. There are better options out there, but bringing Moran back to town wouldn’t exactly be an overly expensive option and would give Houston some flexibility to address needs elsewhere.

But who would play shortstop?

Just put Alex Bregman over there. At least for a little while.

This sort of option has been proposed before (by yours truly and others) and it will be proposed again. Let’s get a little creative, Houston. Let’s move some pieces around and have some fun and put together a slightly different infield that could be successful.

Move Bregman to first. Put Yuli Gurriel over on third. Sign a first baseman. Moran is indeed a first baseman. Save money on this. Maybe load up on some decent arms for the bullpen.

Or, make an inspired move for the first time in a while, Astros. Do something bold. Like the following:

Freddie Freeman

And we’re going with another creative solution here to wrap things up. This one is just as much of a stopgap fix as the previous one is and it’s definitely a little more out there than the previous one for several reasons.

Finding a way to convince Freddie Freeman to leave the Atlanta Braves is already a tough task. Getting him to leave after helping Atlanta win a World Series is hard to imagine. Plus, Houston is hesitant to pay Correa a big deal. They’re probably not thrilled at the idea of paying Freeman a ton of money.

So there are some very good reasons why this would never work. But the Braves are reportedly preparing for a possible world without Freeman.

They’re apparently looking for a Freeman clone and that should definitely make it clear that Freeman might end up elsewhere.

If the Astros are going to be replacing Correa’s production and they even remotely have a shot at signing someone as good as Freeman, they absolutely have to take it. Otherwise they’re looking at trying to sign guys like Moran or Mitch Moreland and getting unnecessarily creative.

Break out the checkbook. Get the best possible player available. Try to win another World Series.

While paying Freeman might get expensive, he doesn’t seem to want a long term deal. That could work in Houston’s favor (maybe) and the Astros wouldn’t be paying much more than what they recently offered Correa.

He’s not cheap, but he could help Houston win another ring or two. That would be worth it.