Randy Flores Has One Month Before the Lockout Freezes Houston

Randy Flores finally got the keys Friday night. The Houston Astros hired the Cardinals’ assistant GM after a two-month search, and he’ll be introduced Monday at Daikin Park. Congratulations, Randy. Now please look at a calendar.

The collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, and owners are expected to lock out the players right after. Once that happens, nobody on a 40-man roster can be traded and no major league free agent can sign. The last lockout ran from Dec. 2, 2021, to March 10, 2022. So the new guy gets about four weeks to do real work. After that, he waits like the rest of us.

His first press conference lands on the same day option decisions are due. That makes Isaac Paredes the first call, and it’s an easy one. Houston holds a 13.35 million dollar club option, which is cheaper than his projected 15 million in arbitration. Pick it up and move on.

After that, the GM Meetings run Nov. 9 through 12 in Las Vegas, and the non-tender deadline hits Nov. 20. That’s a lot of decisions for a guy who’s still learning where the coffee is.

This is the big one. Carlos Correa is coming back, Jeremy Peña is at short, Paredes is at third and Christian Walker is at first. Somebody’s getting squeezed. Sydney Cruse made strong cases for keeping Paredes and keeping Walker. I’m with her on Paredes. Walker is where I’d look. He’s 35 and due 20 million dollars in the final year of his deal. 

Moving him slides Paredes to first and gives Correa third. To be fair, it won’t be simple. Walker can block trades to six teams. That’s exactly why Flores needs every one of these four weeks, especially when the rotation needed a club-record 19 starters to get through 2026. Any infield deal should bring back an arm. If this lockout drags like the last one, every team will be cramming trades and signings into the same short window. I’d rather the club shop while the phones still work.

Flores’ first big task is replacing Joe Espada, and he still needs a bench coach. Once the lockout starts, a league memo tells clubs to avoid contact with 40-man players as much as possible. A manager hired in December might not get to talk to his own clubhouse until spring.

Monday, I want to hear a plan with actual dates on it. If Flores says he wants to take his time, that’s a red flag, because Dec. 1 isn’t moving.

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