The Houston Astros have some questions to answer this offseason. After losing the American League Wild Card Series to the suddenly red-hot Detroit Tigers, they may have to prepare for life without Alex Bregman.

The star third baseman is a free agent and may not return to Houston. In that case, the Astros may be forced to go a different route in order to fill the hole at third base.

predicted that Houston would ultimately trade for Nolan Arenado at the Winter Meetings this week.

“If Houston is unable to retain Bregman, there has been talk of pivoting to signing Jorge Polanco to play the hot corner, in hopes that he can bounce back from what was a rough 2024 campaign with Seattle.

Why not Nolan Arenado, though, whose contract with three years and $58M remaining on it the Cardinals are actively shopping?” Miller wrote.

“Ahead of his age-34 season, Arenado is no longer the perennial All-Star and heart-of-the-order slugger that he used to be. He’s more valuable than Polanco, though, both at the plate and especially in the field, as Polanco has logged a grand total of 180 innings at third base in his career.”

Arenado had a down year in what could be his last with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit .272 with 71 RBI but saw his power numbers decrease drastically.

The 33-year-old hit only 16 home runs and had an uninspiring .719 OPS. But a change of scenery, especially to a winning environment like Houston could help him get back to where he was in 2022, when he was a National League MVP finalist.

Arenado could be the ideal replacement in the event that Bregman walks.