MLB rumors: Willson Contreras was nearly traded to Astros midseason

MLB rumors: Willson Contreras was nearly traded to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline

Remember when the Chicago Cubs made one of the strangest deadline decisions in recent memory by electing to hold onto Willson Contreras? Turns out, that was nearly not the case.

In a long Astros-based column by ESPN‘s Jeff Passan, word came up that Contreras was on the verge of being traded to Houston in a one-for-one swap in exchange for starting pitcher José Urquidy.

Of course, the Astros managed to win the World Series without Contreras’s bat in their everyday lineup, instead going after Boston’s Christian Vazquez who is a glove-first option behind the plate.

MLB rumors: Willson Contreras almost won his second World Series ring

According to Passan, Astros GM James Click was oh-so-close to making the first significant deal of his tenure at the helm, all this swap needed was owner approval.

That approval never ended up coming from Astros owner Jim Crane. Instead, the Astros pivoted and wound up with Vazquez, a move that didn’t seem to affect their World Series chances in the long run, as he failed to produce in a 35-game cameo with the club.

Urquidy, 27, finished the season with a 13-8 record and a 3.94 ERA across 29 appearances for the Astros. He made a key three-inning relief appearance in the World Series as well, striking out four batters and allowing just a single base hit and walk in an epic Game 3 performance.

Dusty Baker, the manager of the Astros who finally earned his first World Series ring, had the following to say about the nixed deal:

"Much as I like Willson Contreras, Urquidy was one of our best pitchers then. I needed a guy that wasn’t going to complain about not playing every day. And this is his [free agent] year. See, that’s tough. When you trade for a player in his [free agent] year. Everybody’s about numbers and stuff, and I can’t blame them, no doubt. But that’s not what we needed."

Baker’s comments suggest that Contreras would not have necessarily been the club’s everyday catcher behind incumbent starter Martín Maldonado, who remains one of the best defenders behind the plate in all of baseball.

It’s always interesting to reflect on some of these failed trade deadline moves and wonder what could have been. For the Astros and their fans, the World Series rings on all of their hands will make this deal-that-never-was much easier to swallow.