Assessment of Houston’s current trade chips:
Off limits: Alvarez, Altuve, Diaz, Tucker, Valdez, Bregman, Verlander, B Abreu; these players would only be traded in a massive deal for equivalent MLB talent or in some strange trade linked to another trade or part of an inexplicable rebuild/reload
1st tier (equivalent to MLB Top 50 prospect): Pena, McCormick, Brown, Javier; these could be headliners in a blockbuster
2nd tier (equivalent to MLB Top 51-125 prospect): Garcia, Meyers, Pressly, France, Urquidy, Dubon, Corona, Melton, Matthews; these could be headliners for a RP or fringe regular, or complimentary pieces in a blockbuster
3rd tier (equivalent to prospect ranked in org 10-30 range): Dubin, Graveman, Martinez, Mushinski, Whitley, Kessinger, Julks, Baez, Arrighetti, Dezenzo, Loperfido, Gordon, Barber, Leon, Wagner, Daniels, Whitcomb, Dirden, Tamarez, Melendez, Kouba; could be flipped for a bench piece or add-ons in a bigger deal
Throw-ins/DFA Fodder: Salazar, Bielak, Blanco, Gage, Kuhnel, Ortega, Sousa, Hensley, Singleton
Salary dumps: J Abreu, McCullers, Montero
I feel like the only way Houston can make a major trade this offseason is by dealing Hunter Brown.