The Astros and Braves announced a one-for-one swap of middle infielders. Utility player Mauricio Dubón is headed to Atlanta with defensive specialist Nick Allen on his way to Houston.
Atlanta takes on a few million dollars to upgrade their infield. Dubón, 31, spent nearly four seasons in Houston. The Astros acquired him from the Giants in a minor trade early in 2022. It was a nice pickup, as he developed into a versatile and generally reliable piece off the bench. Dubón won two utility Gold Glove awards while playing all three infield positions to the left of first base and a decent amount of center and left field.
The righty-swinging Dubón was a league average hitter a couple seasons ago, batting .278/.309/.411 with 10 homers in nearly 500 trips to the dish. His offense has declined in each of the past two years. He’s coming off a .241/.289/.355 showing with seven longballs through 398 plate appearances and carries a .256/.293/.358 line over the past two seasons. He’s very difficult to strike out but rarely walks and has well below-average power.
Still, that light bat is a significant upgrade over what Allen brings to the table offensively. The 27-year-old Allen didn’t hit a single home run in 416 trips to the dish this year. He turned in a .211/.284/.251 line that made him easily the worst hitter to take 400+ plate appearances. Allen ranked in the bottom 20 hitters in on-base percentage, while his slugging mark was more than .040 points lower than the second-lowest in MLB (.296 by Victor Scott II). He owns a .213/.265/.272 slash in nearly 1200 plate appearances over parts of four seasons.
Allen has continued to get playing time because of his superlative glove. He has been touted as an excellent infielder dating back to his high school days. Allen has posted fantastic defensive marks in every season of his career. Defensive Runs Saved graded him as the third-best shortstop in MLB this year behind Mookie Betts and Zach Neto. Statcast’s Outs Above Average also had him third, albeit behind Bobby Witt Jr. and Masyn Winn.
Dubón is unlikely to be that caliber of defender if he were pressed into everyday shortstop work. Statcast has graded him as a plus defender in his 721 career innings at the position though. Defensive Runs Saved has him right around league average. Dubón should be capable of playing there every day, and he’s not a complete zero offensively. That’s particularly true in favorable platoon matchups, as he’s a .288/.329/.417 hitter versus left-handed pitching over the past three years.
The Braves couldn’t afford to enter next season with Allen atop the shortstop depth chart. Dubón would be a low-end regular but provides a higher floor. This shouldn’t detract from Atlanta’s interest in re-signing Ha-Seong Kim. Dubón has the versatility to provide cover behind Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley at second and third base while complementing lefty-hitting Michael Harris II in center field. Still, he’s at least a reasonable one-year fallback if Kim signs elsewhere in a market devoid of shortstop alternatives in free agency or trade.
Dubón is entering his final season of arbitration eligibility. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $5.8MM salary. Allen is eligible for arbitration for the first time as a Super Two player and under control for four years. He’s projected at $1.5MM. Houston cuts a little more than $4MM from the books while downgrading in the utility role.
Allen isn’t going to play shortstop barring an injury to Jeremy Peña, but he can offer a glove-only option at second base. Jose Altuve is the primary starter there for now, but the Astros hope to continue splitting his playing time between the keystone, left field, and designated hitter. They’ve been tied to Brendan Donovan in trade conversations and could consider other possibilities (e.g. a Brandon Lowe trade, Jorge Polanco in free agency) if the Cardinals deal Donovan elsewhere. They’ll ideally add a left-handed bat to balance a righty-heavy lineup. Allen is out of minor league options, so he’ll need to be on the active roster or designated for assignment.
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported that Dubón had been traded to the Braves just before the announcements. Respective images courtesy of Jerome Miron and Brett Davis, Imagn Images.