The Boston Red Sox tried. The Houston Astros hung up.
According to WHDH Boston’s Ari Alexander, the Red Sox approached the Astros about a potential trade for shortstop Jeremy Peña and were “shut down immediately.” Bob Nightengale of USA Today had reported that Boston would “love” to add Peña ahead of the August 3 trade deadline, describing the team as being in “dire need” of a right-handed bat. The Astros’ response was a hard, fast no.
Peña is a homegrown Astro. Houston drafted him back in 2018, he broke into the majors in 2022, he won a Gold Glove at shortstop that same year, and then he won ALCS MVP and World Series MVP as the Astros captured a title. That is his Houston resume. You do not casually trade a player like that in the middle of a competitive season.
The 28-year-old is having a career year at the plate as well. He is batting .315 with nine home runs, 28 RBIs, and eight stolen bases across just 58 games due to hamstring and calf injuries that have cost him time. His slugging is up. His on-base percentage is up. He is playing the best baseball of his career.
None of that fits the profile of a player a contending team trades. And Houston, despite whatever noise there has been around them being sellers this year, is not doing a fire sale. Astros GM Dana Brown has made clear that the intention is to keep the core intact and figure out what the roster looks like from here.
For the Red Sox, this rejection is a body blow. Boston has been aggressive in trying to upgrade the middle of the infield. They already acquired Curtis Mead from the Nationals for pitcher Connelly Early over the weekend. They have been reported as pursuing multiple shortstop options, including the Angels’ Zach Neto and the Nationals’ CJ Abrams. Peña was the biggest name on the shortlist, and the Astros just took him off the board.
The Angels are willing to “listen” on Neto but not rush to move a 25-year-old with more than three years of team control. The Nationals will “listen” on Abrams as well. Neither of those two situations is likely to end with the shortstop going anywhere unless a team overpays significantly, and Boston has to decide whether the moment is right to do exactly that.
The bigger picture for Houston is what all of this says about their intentions. They are not going to blow it up. They are going to keep pushing for another postseason run and see what happens. Trading Peña would have been the most extreme version of a fire sale, and it is now clear the front office is not going in that direction.
The deadline is one week away. The Red Sox will keep calling. The Astros will keep saying no.
Jeremy Peña is a Houston Astro. Everyone can stop asking now.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
