The Astros missed the postseason for the first time in a decade, and now they'll enter the offseason in the unfamiliar position of underdogs in the AL West.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Carlos Correa, 3B: $92MM through 2028 (deal includes four vesting club options for 2029-32; Twins covering $10MM annually for next three seasons as part of trade)
- Jose Altuve, 2B: $80MM through 2029
- Yordan Alvarez, DH: $78MM through 2028
- Josh Hader, LHP: $57MM through 2028
- Cristian Javier, RHP: $42MM through 2027
- Christian Walker, 1B: $40MM through 2027
- Lance McCullers Jr., RHP: $17MM through 2026
- Nate Pearson, RHP: $1.35MM through 2026 (arbitration eligible in 2027)
Option Decisions
- None
Total 2026 commitments: $155.85MM
Total future commitments: $407.35MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; salary projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Mauricio Dubon (5.162): $5.8MM
- Steven Okert (5.089): $2MM
- Luis Garcia (5.083): $2.2MM
- Ramon Urias (5.025): $4.4MM
- Bryan Abreu (5.022): $5.9MM
- Enyel De Los Santos (5.015): $2.1MM
- Chas McCormick (4.161): $3.4MM
- Isaac Paredes (4.160): $9.3MM
- Jesus Sanchez (4.118): $6.5MM
- Jake Meyers (4.044): $3.5MM
- Jeremy Pena (4.000): $7.9MM
- Hunter Brown (3.035): $5.7MM
- Yainer Diaz (3.035): $4.5MM
- Hayden Wesneski (2.170): $1.5MM
- Bennett Sousa (2.156): $1.1MM
- Taylor Trammell (2.144): $900K
Non-Tender Candidates: Dubon, Garcia, Urias, De Los Santos, McCormick, Sanchez, Trammell
Free Agents
The Astros finished the season with an 87-75 record and missed out on the final AL Wild Card spot after losing the season series tiebreaker to the Tigers. As far as seasons that don't end in a postseason berth go, Houston's year certainly could've been worse. Yet there's plenty of work for GM Dana Brown and the rest of the front office to do this winter.
The elephant in the room is the impending departure of southpaw Framber Valdez. It's a safe bet that he will be pitching elsewhere come Opening Day, as Houston has rarely made a full-scale effort to retain their free agents over the years. Alex Bregman walked in free agency last winter, and Kyle Tucker was traded before his final year under team control so that he wouldn't do the same. Gerrit Cole previously left for New York after reaching free agency after the 2019 season. Justin Verlander and Carlos Correa both signed elsewhere on two separate occasions, though both did return to Houston in trades after their respective departures.
Jose Altuve is the only one of the club's stars they've managed to keep in town consistently, and comments from Brown haven't offered much reason to expect Valdez's free agency to reverse that trend. Brown said that he expected to have "some conversations" with Valdez's camp, but otherwise largely focused on the emergence of Hunter Brown as a legitimate ace and the club's other internal options when asked about the possibility of a reunion. Valdez is sure to be well outside the club's typical comfort zone even as he enters free agency marketing his age-32 season, and Brown has suggested that the club could look to the trade market in any efforts to bolster its rotation.
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fyi – linked the wrong Jeremy Pena
Offer Framber the QO so you get something for him and hope for better health next year. Getting parades back will be huge plus hopefully hitting coaches who know how to teach offense fundamentals (work the count, move the runner over, etc). Astros have sorely been missing this the last few seasons
Jim Crane has been known to be enamored with Dylan Cease… I don’t expect them to win the bidding but I think there’s at least an outside chance. If not him, Shane Bieber, Brandon Woodruff or Michael King would make a decent #2 at a contract length more in line with the Astros MO.
They should definitely add another innings eater as well and I could definitely see a JV reunion. Would be happy with Chris Bassitt too.
While Paredes may have a lot more value on the market than Walker, he also has more value to the Astros than he does to any other organization, and for a team that desperately needs to improve their patience at the plate, there’s no return they could get for him that makes them better in 2026. He should be an extension candidate not a trade candidate.
I’m not one of the haters desperate to run Walker out of town, but I agree that I have a very hard time seeing Paredes at 2B, which would leave a problematic defender at 2 positions. I can live with Altuve’s defense at either LF or 2B if they have a plus defender in the other position. I also really want either Zach Cole or Bryce Matthews to get a shot at a starting job. So they really just need to do what they can to move Walker. I love the idea of a change-of-scenery-bad-contract-swap for a starting pitcher, Sean Manaea was my first thought too. Hicks is also an interesting idea, especially if the keep him in the bullpen and get him back to form as a setup man where they could definitely use more depth.
One creative solution could be to trade Yainer Diaz for a controllable starter and re-sign Caratini to be the primary catcher. I really like Caratini and I’d hate to see him go, and my patience is running thin on Diaz.
Caratini is best as a backup don’t think he’d do much as a starter. Diaz, for as bad as he was last year almost had a 3 war.
Caratini’s only notable flaw is arm strength. But he’s a good blocker and framer and seems to be good at working with the pitching staff. Offensively he’s very much a plus hitter by catcher standards, with a professional approach to boot. The problem with Diaz is that he’s stagnated both offensively and defensively, and he’s completely emblematic of their overly swing happy approach on offense. I just think Diaz could be more valuable to another team than he is to the Astros (assuming they brought back Caratini), especially if the other team had the flexibility to rotate him at 1B or DH.
Brandon Lowe could play 2nd base or OF if they traded for him.
Stros don’t have much to offer unless it was something built around Lowe for Walker. I don’t see the rays doing that with Walker making 20 million a year
I am hoping the Houston Astros will find the right players to help the team for 2026. And they can find the pitchers to get them to the playoffs and World Series and win the World Series.