How might Houston Astros replace Carlos Correa at shortstop?

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

Among the biggest questions upon resumption of the hot-stove season, once a new CBA is reached, will be where top free agent Carlos Correa will sign and for how much. 

At this point, most people assume the 27-year-old superstar will leave Houston and take his talents elsewhere. Where Correa goes will certainly have a dramatic impact on the baseball landscape, but should he indeed leave the Astros, a crucial question emerges: Who is going to play shortstop for the defending American League champs? That seems like a pretty big deal.

Fear not. I’m here to try to answer that daunting question. There are certainly some obvious solutions, but let’s be as thorough as possible. 

Here’s a comprehensive list of who could be playing shortstop for Houston on Opening Day, broken into several categories:

Not gonna happen, but it would be really funny: J.C. Correa

It’s not uncommon to see teams draft relatives of star players or prominent front-office members — or at least, it wasn’t when the MLB Draft was 40 rounds long. 

So when the Astros selected the younger Correa brother not once but twice — in the 33rd round in 2018 out of Alvin Community College and then in the 38th round in 2019 out of Lamar University — I didn’t make much of it, especially considering how late the picks were. 

Then the Astros signed Correa as a free agent following his senior year at Lamar in 2020, and he proceeded to have a stellar pro debut in 2021, slashing .310/.368/.464 in 101 games across both levels of A-ball while playing multiple positions, including shortstop. 

While J.C. Correa seems to have established himself as a legitimate prospect, the main issue here is that he seems to be in the process of changing positions:

A prospect has an amazing spring training and wins the job: Edwin Diaz, Pedro Leon, Alex De Goti, Grae Kessinger, Shay Whitcomb, David Hensley

All of these gentlemen have played shortstop to varying degrees in the minor leagues, and nearly all of them have already appeared in Double-A or higher, with De Goti the only one who has already reached the big leagues (albeit for just two games). 

Diaz is the only one of this group who hasn’t already been in the Astros' system, as he signed a minor-league deal in December with an invite to spring training after spending eight years with Oakland. 

Whitcomb, Houston’s fifth-round pick in 2020, had the loudest offensive season (.293/.363/.530) in 2021, but he’s also the only one yet to reach Double-A. 

Leon is the most famous of the bunch, having signed for $4 million out of Cuba and represented the Astros at the 2021 Futures Game, but he seems to be tracking more as an outfielder and struggled mightily at Triple-A at the end of last season. 

Any of these guys could have a monster spring and force themselves into the mix for the starting shortstop job, but they’d have to beat another top prospect in the process (more on him later).

An "old friend" in free agency: Jonathan Villar, Jed Lowrie, Marwin Gonzalez, Robel Garcia

Lowrie has barely played shortstop since his last stop in Houston in 2015, and he turns 38 in April, so he doesn’t seem like a real option, despite his relative offensive resurgence in 2021. 

Garcia played 81 innings at shortstop for the Astros in 2021 but was a disaster at the plate (.423 OPS), so he doesn’t seem like someone Houston will be eager to bring back either. 

Gonzalez was also around for a little bit in 2021, and the organization obviously knows him as well as any of these dudes, but his best days are clearly behind him. 

Villar, who made his MLB debut with Houston back in 2013, seems like the strongest candidate of this group, as a competent switch-hitter with excellent speed and reasonable defensive chops. But would Villar feel comfortable returning to the site of the hilariously infamous butt slide? It’s tough to say.

A short-term free agent: Josh Harrison, Donovan Solano, Jose Iglesias, Andrelton Simmons, Matt Duffy, Charlie Culberson, Chris Owings, Eric Sogard, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jordy Mercer

None of these players is a particularly exciting or ideal long-term replacement for Correa, but for an Astros team that obviously intends to compete in 2022, almost any of these guys could be a reasonable option to plug in while the organization waits for its prospects to develop.

It’s difficult to imagine any of these players commanding a multiyear deal, either, so there would likely be some added flexibility should one of Houston’s prospects be ready to take over at midseason.

A free-agent splash: Trevor Story

Now this would be quite a plot twist. At the start of the offseason, the Rangers seemed like a no-brainer landing spot for Story, a Dallas native, but then the team's monumental investments in Corey Seager and Marcus Semien seemed to quash that notion. 

If Houston isn’t willing to completely break the bank to bring back Correa, might a deal for a not-that-much-worse star in Story make some sense? I doubt it, but with Story being the clear next-best shortstop still available on the market, it’s worth mentioning.

A trade target who wouldn’t cost a fortune: Paul DeJong, Amed Rosario, Adalberto Mondesi

While we did witness a free-agent frenzy in the days leading up to the lockout, the trade market was stunningly quiet across the league. That’s sure to change once the hot stove reignites, and perhaps the Astros could get in the mix. 

DeJong appeared to be an ascending star after his second-place NL Rookie of the Year finish in 2017 and All-Star appearance in 2019, but he has struggled mightily the past two years. 

Rosario was just part of Cleveland’s haul for Francisco Lindor, but the Guardians have a ton of middle-infield depth that could supplant him soon. 

Mondesi has always had tantalizing talent but has struggled to stay healthy enough to really make an impact in Kansas City. Plus, top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. is on the verge of breaking through with the Royals up the middle.

A trade target who would cost a fortune: Ketel Marte

If the Astros really want to go big in replacing Correa, Marte could be a bold solution, though it’s quite possible his days of playing shortstop are behind him. 

It’s also unclear how willing the D-Backs would be to move him, despite their recent abysmal records. Regardless, even if the Astros loved Marte and believed he could still play a reasonable shortstop, any deal here would cost a hefty amount of prospect capital from a farm system that is universally regarded as bottom-five in MLB.

Not the worst idea, but seems pretty unlikely: Alex Bregman, Aledmys Díaz

During the Correa era, no player has played more shortstop for the Astros besides Correa than Bregman.

I haven’t seen anyone suggest this could be a real solution, but with Bregman clearly capable of handling the position, might Houston slide him over to short and determine that third base is actually an easier hole to fill, either internally or via free agency? That doesn’t seem too far-fetched.

Díaz, meanwhile, has been the consummate role player for Houston the past three seasons and has some experience at shortstop, but it seems the Astros prefer him in the super-utility role, rather than starting every day.

The obvious answer that’s probably not going to happen: Carlos Correa

The reality is the Astros’ most recent reported offer to Correa — five years, $160 million — doesn’t even sniff what the star shortstop will likely ultimately command, especially when you consider what Seager got from the Rangers right before the lockout (10 years, $325M). 

That said, Correa is still available, and his list of suitors might end up being shorter than we realize, which could open the door for a return to H-Town.

I don’t blame Correa at all for wanting the biggest payday and suggesting publicly that such a deal will probably come elsewhere, but it’s not like he and the Astros didn’t have a pretty damn good thing going. It seems like this book is closed, but I won’t believe it entirely until Correa is flashing his new uniform at the news conference.

The obvious answer that’s probably going to happen: Jeremy Peña

The son of former big-league second baseman Geronimo Peña, Jeremy was known in his amateur days at the University of Maine for having one of the best infield gloves in college baseball. 

That trait alone drove him up draft boards and ultimately landed him with Houston in the third round of the 2018 draft, at which point his offensive potential was hardly anything to get excited about. 

He has since packed on significant muscle and raised his offensive ceiling considerably, all while maintaining his next-level defensive chops, which vaulted him into the upper tier of shortstop prospects.

Wrist surgery in April cost him the first three months of the 2021 season, but that didn’t stop him from raking at Triple-A (.942 OPS with 10 homers in 30 games) for six weeks upon returning in August. He spent the postseason on the Astros’ taxi squad, taking BP and infield with the big-league club during their pennant run. After the MLB season, he headed to the Dominican Republic for a second consecutive winter as one of the best players in LIDOM for Estrellas Orientales. 

Now, the Astros could choose to go several directions once the hot stove resumes. However, this might just be the Occam’s Razor of the offseason; the best answer is often the simplest one. If Correa is gone, handing Peña the job seems like a no-brainer.

There you have it! Thirty possible candidates to play shortstop for the Astros on Opening Day. If it’s not one of those 30, I’ll tip my hat to Astros GM James Click and accept that I will never be a major-league general manager. But I like my chances among this shortstop group!

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.