Houston Astros Pivoted Following Complications With Alex Bregman Talks

The Houston Astros got busy over the weekend, but they may be walking away from a franchise legend now.

Oct 2, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros third base Alex Bregman (2) runs after hitting a single against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning of game two of the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have been busy as of late, trading away superstar Kyle Tucker and most recently signing first baseman Christian Walker to fix their problems at that position.

However, it appears after this flurry of moves, they might be ready to walk away from negotiations with a franchise legend.

All offseason, it's been back and forth as to whether or not the Astros would be able to reel Bregman back, maybe to finish out his career. It was reported they offered him a six year, $156 million dollar contract, which Bregman did not take.

Houston then pivoted to an attempt to trade for Nolan Arenado, who turned down the deal with his no-trade clause before they ultimately brought in Walker to take over at first base.

After recent comments from GM Dana Brown, it seems unlikely that Bregman will be back with the Astros.

"I won’t get into specifics but I feel like the negotiations stalled. I feel like we made a really competitive offer and showed that we wanted him back. But we had to pursue other options. We couldn’t just sit there," Brown explained.

This goes to show that Bregman is taking his time with his first free agency, but Houston needed to get going, which they did.

In the return for Tucker, the Astros received infielder Isaac Paredes, who will now fill the third base role. He is capable of providing 30-plus homers, but is coming off more of a down performance in 2024.

The 25-year-old had a .739 OPS with 19 home runs and 80 driven in.

However, Houston will hope to get the 2023 version of the third baseman when he hit 31 home runs, drove in 98 and posted a 130 OPS+.

One of Brown's latest comments commits fully to Paredes and seemingly closes the door on Bregman completely.

"I won’t get into anymore but to say Paredes is going to play third and Walker is going to play first," said the executive.

It's unknown whether or not the team increased their offer from the original one, but either way it seems they've moved on.

It's been a bit of a weird offseason for Houston.

They traded away one of the better hitters in baseball, a player who is top 10 in many franchise categories, but fixed a massive position of need after a disastrous Jose Abreu contract.

Despite some of those positives, they will have to figure out how to build this lineup without those superstars.