An Astros-D'Backs trade for a player who hates the Dodgers as much as Houston

While they compete in different leagues altogether, the Houston Astros have few bigger rivals in modern baseball than the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the Dodgers, after all, who the Astros faced in the 2017 World Series when they not-so-subtly cheated their way to a title. While the championship stands thanks to some posturing on Rob Manfred's part, the asterisk remains.

Since then, there's been plenty of jawing back and forth. The Dodgers won a commissioner's trophy of their own to even the score, somewhat. Los Angeles' payroll continues to increase as they seek further validation of their path to baseball immortality. The names on the back of the jerseys change, but the hatred between fanbases remains.

The past two seasons, Houston has struggled to fill a void in their lineup at first base. Jose Abreu was not it, and the Astros let their high-priced free agent addition from 2023 walk this season. The replacements -- Jon Singleton, Joey Loperfido and more -- have performed admirably, but aren't All-Star caliber. Christian Walker is, and he'd be the perfect addition for a Houston team hoping to get over the hump, and set up another World Series matchup with the NL-favored Dodgers.

An Astros-Diamondbacks trade for Christian Walker

Christian Walker has hit 16 home runs at Dodger Stadium since 2018. He hit a grand slam on Wednesday night, giving him five more home runs than any other visiting player at Dodger Stadium in that time span. In all, Walker has 25 home runs in just 89 games against Los Angeles over the course of his career, so essentially half a season.

It should be noted that Arizona is under no pressure to sell. This is a team which made a late-season run to sneak into the playoffs and won the National League pennant as a result. They are familiar being in this position come early July. FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray said as much on The Baseball Insiders podcast:

"As of right now, I don't think that the Diamondbacks are going to be in position to sell...They have Jordan Montgomery on the IL, and you gotta think he'll end up being better than he was when he was healthy. You also have E-Rod (Eduardo Rodriguez) coming back. It looks like based on what Jon Heyman reported the other day that he's getting closer. You have to imagine Corbin Carroll will get better. They seem like a team to me that is primed for a surge in the second half of the year."

Yet, let's say Arizona were encouraged to sell, especially since Walker is in the final year of his contract and may not re-sign. Getting something of substance for him now makes a lot of sense for the D'Backs. Here's what that trade might look like.

In this trade scenario, I am assuming Houston and Walker would agree to a contract extension. It's the MLB version of a sign-and-trade. In that sense, the Astros would have little need for Loperfido moving forward. Santa is a throw-in -- the Astros No. 25-ranked prospect -- a 21-year-old pitcher with some promise.

At 25 years old, Loperfido is still developing as a hitter but can cut it at the MLB level. He would slide right in with Arizona, and wouldn't force them to take much of a step back moving forward. Loperfido offers more years of control, can hit to all fields and offers moderate power. He's the No. 5 prospect in a weak Astros farm system.

Santa is still in A-ball but has a fastball that can touch the upper 90's. He's a little too fastball-reliant to make it in the big leagues just yet, or even the upper levels of the minors, but assuming he can keep developing his secondary pitchers he may have a shot as a back-end starter or relief pitcher.

The Astros are desperate for Walker, which is why they'd be willing to agree to this trade in the first place. After Abreu worked out so poorly, Walker offers a potential long-term solution at the position, assuming the two teams can work out an extension before this winter.