Shaw has a toe in stance and while he can pull the ball, he's more push. He went oppo 43% of the time last year in Triple-A and pulled 30% of the time. If you want "red flag in the data" for Shaw, this is one. In theory, you want pull - oppo home runs just aren't the game. Now, we can say that Shaw is uniquely primed for oppo power, but let's put ourselves in the Astros shoes:
Is Shaw, a guy who's approach and set up is designed to go away from your one big advantage the guy you're targeting? I mean, maybe! Maybe you think you can retool that but maybe that's not you. Especially if you're going to just go get Bregman back.
I don't want to entirely horsefeathers on this idea that they'd want Shaw. But if I'm taking a moment and being Houston, I don't think Matt Shaw is the guy I want the most. Which is weird, because as the Cubs, he's probably the guy I'm most confident about moving forward. But I admit I could be a bit biased here in that I like Shaw.
But this also is why I think the Cubs and the Astros fit well. I think the Cubs are most concerned with keeping Shaw. I think the Astros might be less concerned with getting Shaw.