Astros Star Yordan Alvarez Just Outside Top 10 of MLB Best Players List

Houston Astros star slugger Yordan Alvarez was given some high praise coming into this season.

Oct 1, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez (44) hits a double in the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers in game one of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros find themselves in an interesting place after being knocked out of the playoffs before reaching the American League Championship Series for the first time in this stretch of sevent consecutive appearances.

It also marked the first time in that same stretch that they missed out on making the World Series in consecutive seasons.

While the state of the dynasty is in question moving forward for the club, what is not in question is just how great of a batter Yordan Alvarez is.

The designated hitter has proven time and time again that he is one of the best in the sport at the plate, and Fangraphs' recent projections for 2025 ranks the slugger as the 11th-best player ahead of the campaign.

For his career, Alvarez has batted .298/.390/.583 with 164 home runs, 466 RBI, and a 166 OPS+ across 2,668 plate appearances in 629 games.

Injuries have played a part in Alvarez's "low" career marks, as the slugger has played in 140 or more games only twice in four tries, and only made it into two games of the 60-game 2020 season.

While he may not be the best in the sport at any one aspect of offense, as far as an all-around hitter, there may not be anyone better.

Alvarez can hit for average, posting a .300 or better on three different occasions. He can hit for power, hitting 30 or more home runs in each of the last four years, draw walks, carrying a career walk rate of 11.9% , and has worked on limiting his strikeouts, lowering his strikeout rate year-over-year since 2019, excluding 2020.

It is not very often that baseball fans get to witness greatness like that of Alvarez, and it is even less often that a player of his caliber is making his mark on such a team-friendly contract.

The Astros signed the star to a six-year, $115 million contract ahead of 2023, covering all of his arbitration years and three years after that.

With four years left, the AAV over that time is a massively team-friendly $24.05 million.

If Alvarez can stay on the field for 150 or more games per season for the rest of his career, there are many Major League records in jeopardy of being broken.