Houston Astros Legend Makes Strong Suggestion to Team Ahead of MLB Free Agency

This Houston Astros legend has strong thoughts on the team's upcoming free agency period.

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The Houston Astros are having to turn the page to the offseason earlier than they desired after being eliminated in the Wild Card round by the Detroit Tigers and bringing to an end their streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances.

Sitting at home during the Fall Classic is not something a team who has made the World Series in four of the previous seven seasons is exactly used to, but now the focus must turn to getting better for 2025 and putting together a better product on the field than Houston brass assembled in 2024. The main elephant in the room so to speak as the Astros get ready for what will be a critical free agency period is the status of franchise cornerstone Alex Bregman.

With Bregman's 5-year, $100 million deal from 2019 officially coming to an end, the legendary third baseman will become a free agent the day after the World Series is finished. What Bregman wants to do, and what the team wants to do with Bregman is going to dictate what they are able to spend elsewhere and what the needs of the team will be. No real dominoes can fall until the biggest one in Bregman falls as well. While Houston supporters would love to bring back the fan favorite, there's at least one legendary former Astro who wants the team to do the same. Astros Hall of Fame pitcher Roy Oswalt sent out a tweet on Tuesday night with a very simple message: "BRING BREGMAN BACK."

BRING BREGMAN BACK

— Roy Oswalt (@royoswalt44net) October 22, 2024

Oswalt played in Houston for nearly a decade, finishing top-five in Cy Young voting in five of his first six years with the team. A three-time All-Star who was always dependable and reliable, he is one of the best Astros of the last 25 years and really one of the best in franchise history. Nobody has been a bigger supporter of the team over the years than Oswalt himself, and seeing him echo the same sentiment that both the fans and current players have been saying about Bregman will only make fans like him more.

As for Bregman himself, the ball is going to be in ownership's court as to what they are willing to do in order to get him to stay. He is currently projected by Spotrac to receive a four-year, $120 million deal. Whether or not the decision makers in the building are willing to pay him that will be the main storyline of the winter for Houston.