Astros are scraping the bottom of the barrel with interest in hated Dodgers flop

Letting Michael Conforto walk was the easiest decision of the Dodgers' offseason. Even the most obscure or long-suffering players tend to have at least a few people in their corner, but Conforto was universally hated by Dodgers fans. He went out with a whimper, and then the Dodgers went out and got the best possible replacement for him in Kyle Tucker.

To no one's surprise, Conforto has stayed out on the free agent market into the early days of spring training. The White Sox expressed interest in him earlier in the offseason, but that clearly didn't pan out.

If interest from a bottom-feeder team wasn't funny enough, the latest suitor will have Dodgers fans on the floor.

Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the Astros are showing interest in Conforto.

The biggest move of Houston's season was signing Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal, but other than that, they've done very little, especially for their offense, and have instead been stuck on trying to move Isaac Paredes to cut down on a huge infield logjam (which Carlos Correa had a hilariously salty take on).

Houston could use an outfielder who can take on a more full-time role in left as Yordan Alvarez moves into full-time DH territory, but Conforto?

Astros reportedly expressing interest in Michael Conforto as spring training gets underway

Conforto was not only the Dodgers' worst hitter by a mile, but the league's worst qualified hitter by a mile. He finished out the season with a .199 average, .637 OPS, and -8 OAA in the outfield, good for a -0.7 bWAR. At some point, it felt a little bit like a humiliation ritual, sending Conforto out in 138 games only to watch him fail to come through for the team at any given opportunity.

One would think that the Dodgers would be able to let go of a guy on a one-year, $17 million deal — chump change for LA — but they stuck to their guns, unwilling to admit that they made a mistake out loud. Leaving him off of every postseason roster, however, basically spoke for itself.

If the Astros actually want him, Conforto isn't going to be hard for them to sign. He'll have to take another one-year deal for far, far less than $17 million, making him a low-risk, last-minute add if Houston is that desperate.

But is there the potential for high reward anymore? Dodgers fans would answer with an unequivocal "no."