Astros prospect proves why Houston feels comfortable getting rid of Alex Bregman

The Houston Astros made what was arguably the most surprising signing of the offseason, inking Josh Hader to a massive five-year deal. Hader joins Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu in forming the scariest bullpen trio in the majors, and proves that Houston is all in trying to win in 2024.

While the Hader addition might make Houston American League favorites for now, it also brings a level of uncertainty as to what's going to happen after the season. Hader is making a ton of money with his contract, and virtually the entire Astros core is approaching free agency. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman are free agents after this season, and Justin Verlander, Pressly, Framber Valdez, and Kyle Tucker can all hit free agency after 2025.

That's a whole lot of money Houston will have to spend to retain everybody on top of Hader, and chances are, owner Jim Crane won't want to spend it. With that in mind, at least one player has to go. It certainly feels like Altuve will be an Astro for life, but Alex Bregman on the other hand, could be gone after this season. That's thanks in large part to a replacement they have in mind.

Rising Astros prospect could allow the Astros to let Alex Bregman walk

Letting a fan favorite walk and replacing him with a prospect is never a good decision in the eyes of any fan base, but when it comes to the Astros doing this, it's worked multiple times. George Springer walked ahead of the 2021 season, but they had Chas McCormick waiting in the wings. Carlos Correa walked the following offseason, but Houston had Jeremy Pena slotted in right behind him.

In the case of Alex Bregman, the Astros will likely feel very comfortable letting him play out the final year of his deal with a new rising prospect approaching the majors.

Zach Dezenzo is the fifth-ranked prospect in Houston's system according to MLB.com and had an outstanding first full season in professional baseball after being selected in the 12th round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

Dezenzo began the year in High-A but worked his way to Double-A where he'd finish strongly. Overall, the 23-year-old slashed .305/.383/.531 with 18 home runs and 61 RBI in 94 games. He even stole 22 bases in 24 tries. While Dezenzo didn't dominate Double-A the same way he dominated High-A, he did still post a very modest .825 OPS in 63 games for AA Corpus Christi.

Dezenzo could use a bit more seasoning in the minors, but Houston won't need him to come up until next season anyway. By then, if he continues to rake in the upper minors, he can be ready to slot in at the hot corner and allow Houston to not even notice what looks like Bregman's inevitable departure.