Fansided

3 Houston Astros free agents who won’t be back and where they’ll go

By Noah Yingling

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Michael Brantley #23 of the Houston Astros in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 25, 2022 in New York City. The Astros defeated the Yankees 3-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Michael Brantley #23 of the Houston Astros in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 25, 2022 in New York City. The Astros defeated the Yankees 3-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
Christian Vazquez, Astros, Cardinals
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

2) Christian Vázquez – St. Louis Cardinals

The Astros traded for catcher Christian Vázquez from the Red Sox at the trade deadline this year. He is a much better offensive catcher than Martin Maldonado but the Astros played Maldonado more than Vázquez because they preferred his defense.

In the regular season, Vázquez played in 119 games and he hit .274/.315/.399 with an OPS+ of 99. For catchers in today’s era of baseball, that’s very good. He’s still an above average defender as well.

A team that could be in the market for a catcher this offseason is the St. Louis Cardinals. Yadier Molina has officially retired for baseball after parts of 19 seasons in the majors, all with the Cardinals.

Vázquez would be a great addition for them and even give them a bit of an upgrade offensively behind the plate over Molina or their other catcher, Andrew Knizner.

Home/Baltimore Orioles