3 Blake Snell backup plans for Astros if negotiations fall through

1) The Astros can pull off a trade for Shane Bieber

If the Astros strike out in free agency, there's always the trade market. It's not ideal to make a trade this close to opening day, but these are dire circumstances for the Astros. We just saw Dylan Cease get dealt, so it's certainly not impossible to see another trade involving another starting pitcher go down. If that were to happen, Shane Bieber is a player who makes a lot of sense.

There are reasons to be down on Bieber as a pitcher. He was limited to just 21 starts last season, missing over two months with an elbow injury. His velocity was down and has been down since he won the Cy Young Award in the shortened 2020 season. His stats were far from stellar, as his 3.80 ERA was the highest mark of his career since his rookie season and his 20.1 K-rate was a career-low.

While these are all reasons Houston should seemingly avoid trading for Bieber, they are also reasons why he shouldn't cost very much at all to acquire. Even in his down year, the right-hander went at least six innings in 14 of his 21 starts and allowed more than three runs in those starts just twice.

The 28-year-old is in his final year of team control. That might be unappealing in some situations, but this is essentially a tryout for Bieber. If he doesn't pitch well or misses time due to injury, he's gone after the year. If he bounces back, the Astros have a decision on their hands. Either way, it's the kind of move that a team trying to win now with a bad farm system already tries to make.