Carlos Correa’s potential return illustrates the next Astros GM’s biggest challenge

No candidates have been identified in Houston Astros owner Jim Crane’s search for a new general manager. For those interested in the position, it may be prudent to monitor the season’s final two weeks, when the biggest task facing this overhauled baseball operations department will be laid bare.

Some time this week, Carlos Correa will return from the team’s spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., to visit doctors in hopes of receiving clearance to begin a minor-league rehab assignment. Triple-A Sugar Land’s season ends with a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday. Manager Joe Espada said the team would prefer Correa to play in some of it.

At what position is a compelling question. Espada has refused to answer it, but Correa began taking ground balls at second base last weekend. Correa, who is one of the sport’s premier defenders at shortstop and third base, has never played a professional inning at second base.

Still, slotting Correa at the keystone is among myriad possibilities the Astros are debating. That they are even conducting this conversation is a consequence of confounding roster construction. To say it cost Dana Brown his job is drastic, but one of a general manager’s main objectives is building a practical roster.

Upon Correa’s return, the Astros will not have one. Crane seemed to acknowledge the problem after parting ways with Brown, when he praised Espada for “doing what he can with what he’s got.” Crane has payroll parameters and preferences that complicate roster construction, too, so he isn’t blameless in this discussion.

Making the roster more functional will be the foremost objective for whomever Crane chooses to replace Brown. Houston has five infielders for four spots, each of whom is earning at least $9.3 million on a payroll Crane prefers to keep under the luxury tax. All of them are under club control next season, too. Yordan Alvarez’s permanent assignment as a designated hitter further complicates the circumstance.

There aren’t many straightforward solutions, a reality that is accentuated by Correa’s looming return. He is a Platinum Glove shortstop who authored a seamless transition to third base last August, but may now be forced to play a less premium defensive position where he has no meaningful experience. It is difficult to describe that as a good use of resources.

Few players in the sport have a higher baseball acumen than Correa, so there is little concern about his ability to adapt to second base. Having Correa’s elite throwing arm involved in more outfield relays by playing up the middle is prudent, too, though might it be more useful to have that on the left side of the infield?

The mere fact that Correa is being considered at second base is a clear indictment on Isaac Paredes’ ability to handle the position. Team officials and rival evaluators have echoed that sentiment since last winter, when questions about the feasibility of this group of five infielders first started to simmer. Houston still exited spring training with this same roster construction.

Correa tearing an ankle tendon in May during a freak batting practice accident quieted them. Presuming a player on your team will suffer a traumatic, long-term injury is not a prudent plan for roster construction, but it is how the Astros proceeded.

Paredes moved to third base in Correa’s absence and has authored one of the few consistent seasons of anyone in the Astros’ lineup. If Correa had stayed healthy, Espada and his coaching staff would’ve had to give irregular playing time to either Paredes or first baseman Christian Walker, who is in the second season of a three-year, $60 million contract.

Not having enough at-bats for one of the team’s most consistent hitters — or one of its most highly compensated ones — is another curious use of resources. Both Paredes and Walker are under club control next season. So is shortstop Jeremy Peña, whose presence pushed Correa to third base last August upon his return to Houston.

Jose Altuve, the Astros’ everyday second baseman, is the face of the franchise and playing on a contract that runs through 2029. Alvarez’s contract expires a year earlier in 2028. Correa’s contract has two guaranteed years remaining after this one, but a bevy of vesting options can keep him in Houston through 2032.

Correa’s contract contains a full no-trade clause, though any thought of the Astros moving him seems absurd. Ditto for both Altuve and Alvarez, who has blossomed into an American League MVP front-runner.

If those three players are entrenched, it presents a fascinating dilemma. Altuve and Alvarez have distinguished themselves as defensive liabilities, but only one can serve as a full-time designated hitter. Since the offseason, Espada remained adamant it would be Alvarez. He has responded with one of the best offensive seasons in franchise history.

It has forced Altuve to start 116 games at second base, where he has been worth minus-17 defensive runs saved, according to Sports Info Solutions. No second baseman has been worse. Finding any way to decrease his defensive exposure is mandatory, even with Espada removing Altuve late in games in favor of utilityman Nick Allen.

For the remainder of this season, replacing Altuve with Correa is an obvious boon. Paredes would stay at third base, where he has been passable — he’s worth minus-3 defensive runs saved, according to Sports Info Solution — but does not possess anything near the upside Correa could provide. Paredes’ lack of lateral range is apparent at third base and would only be exposed more at second.

In all of this, perspective is important. The Astros are atop the American League West by one game and, according to FanGraphs, have 73.8 percent odds of winning the division.

Twelve games remain in the regular season, and Correa’s mere presence will provide a spark to a lineup in search of one. Correa’s .787 OPS trails only Paredes and Alvarez for the team lead.

If the cost of finishing this frenetic playoff push is peculiar defensive alignments, the Astros will pay it. Crane, after all, has said, “The expectation that I have is we’re in the playoffs every year.” It would behoove Espada, who does not have a contract for next season, to play October baseball by whatever means possible.

Doing this for any longer is dangerous, a fact Brown foreshadowed throughout his final months in charge. Multiple attempts to trade Paredes this winter were unsuccessful. Walker got dangled in discussions, too. Potential trades involving Paredes included a major-league-ready outfielder as part of the return. Given Houston’s horrendous outfield production this season, it is — at the very least — a missed opportunity.

Brown resisted selling high on Peña at the trade deadline, but by trading Kyle Tucker in 2024, he established a precedent for moving players Houston would not pay to keep. Peña fits that criteria and is headed into his final offseason before free agency — the same situation in which Houston traded Tucker.

Whether Brown’s replacement will follow that model is a mystery. Whether they believe trades are even necessary is another. Deciding to move either Altuve or Alvarez to left field on a full-time basis would help alleviate some of this mess, but would leave the players vulnerable to injury and the ballclub vulnerable to bad defense.

Among the other unknowns: the level of autonomy anyone has to make such drastic decisions. Crane and senior adviser Jeff Bagwell still wield considerable influence in baseball operations matters, a setup that all prospective candidates must already understand.

Watching the final 12 games of this season may further drive home how difficult taking this job could be.