How will this trade impact the A’s and Astros rivalry in 2026?
The Houston Astros made an intriguing move on Wednesday night in a trade with the Atlanta Braves, sending Mauricio Dubón to the Braves in exchange for former A’s shortstop Nick Allen. As Chandler Rome of The Athletic points out, Allen is projected to make just $1.5 million in arbitration, while Dubón is projected for $5.8 million, so this move saves them a decent chunk of money.
This could be an important move to keep an eye on, because the cost-saving implications could play a role in how competitive the A’s and Astros are with one another next season. The Athletics fully plan on making the postseason in 2026, and Houston will be trying their hardest to not let the green and gold overtake them in the division.
Dubón, 31, hit .241 with a .289 OBP and an 80 wRC+ (100 is league average) while hitting seven home runs in 398 plate appearances. He has been especially effective against left-handers, batting .292 this past season, while holding a 111 wRC+.
He’s also a two-time Gold Glove winner, including this past year with Houston as the utility player winner. He put up a ridiculous +20 Outs Above Average on the year, which included +8 at both second and shortstop, and another +3 at third base.
A’s fans are very familiar with Allen’s glove work, and he was yet again very good at shortstop this past season, putting up +17 OAA, ranking him tied for third in outs above average with Trea Turner. All of that production came at shortstop.
As far as his bat goes, he hit .221 with a .284 OBP and a 53 wRC+. Offensively, he doesn’t appear to be nearly as much help as Dubón had been, as he hit zero home runs and drove in just 22 RBI in his 416 plate appearances. In his big-league career, he’s always had a special glove at shortstop, but he also holds a cumulative 53 wRC+ for his 382-game career.
This trade, but itself, seems to have helped the A’s out a decent bit, taking a solid defender with an okay bat, and shipping him away for a solid defender with a bad bat. That said, this trade did save the Astros some money, so we’ll have to see where the chips lay when the offseason is closer to being through. Houston may attempt to make a big splash, using some of this money to make it happen.
The one concern if you’re an A’s fan, or a fan of any team really, is that the Astros offense is typically sneakily good when they’re on a roll. They may not do much for most of the game, but they’ll have one stretch of five to six batters where everything falls in front of the defenders, and they get enough runs to win the game.
Perhaps they envision a role for Nick Allen in that type of an offense. At the very least, this should help ignite some of the rivalry next year. Since the A’s and Astros have stopped trading with one another, there hasn’t been as much overlap of players switching sides of late. This should make things a little more interesting.
