Matt SullivanWed, May 6, 2026 at 2:40 PM UTC·2 min readAstros most likely to trade $5.8M reliever that might be hard to part with originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Houston Astros have had a rough season and are well outside of the postseason hunt right now. They could turn things around, but with all of their injuries, it might prove difficult to rebound.
If things continue going south, trading away some players at the deadline would make sense. And anyone in the final year of their deal is an obvious trade chip.
One such player, according to Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, is a righty reliever who's going through his own struggles this year: Bryan Abreu.
"They might be selling off their impending free agents, and Abreu's track record (2.30 ERA from 2022-25) would make him highly coveted," Miller writes.
While Abreu's track record is impressive, there's just one massive issue: his production this year has not been good at all, which could make him a bit more challenging to trade than his prior production might indicate.
The $5.85 million reliever who's set to be a free agent after this year is an obvious trade candidate if things continue to go south for the Astros.
But if they do decide to trade Abreu, it might be difficult to move on from the righty reliever. He has a 9.49 ERA this season in 13 games, which is far from ideal.
While he has been better as of late, allowing one run in the last five innings of work while striking out right in the same span, his production before that led to an ERA above 12, and some major concerns about his game.
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Miller believes that teams will have interest in Abreu, which is very likely to be the case. But finding a trade where the Astros can walk away with confidence in the return might be harder to achieve.
Abreu's struggles are cause for concern, and might cause a team to refrain from parting with valuable assets in a trade for the righty reliever.
Houston might be able to trade Abreu, but when it comes to finding a quality return for the righty reliever with a 9.49 ERA, it might prove difficult for the Astros.
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