Houston Astros Star Predicted To Leave in Free Agency To Keep Others Around

The Houston Astros have tougher decisions than ever before during the next two winters.

Aug 26, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Houston Astros third base Alex Bregman (2) on deck against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros front office will be faced with bigger decisions than ever before over the next two winters.

With Alex Bregman hitting free agency this offseason and Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez scheduled to do so next offseason, there's a lot of money that could be thrown around.

If the Astros had to pick one player to keep, it should be Tucker. He's been out for much of the campaign due to an injury, but when the left-handed slugger is healthy, there aren't many hitters in baseball better than him.

He's also just 27 years old, so he shouldn't slow down anytime in the near future. Sticking with the hitters, Bregman is an interesting case. He'll be 31 next March, and while he's played better recently, he had a brutal start to the campaign.

Will Houston's front office view that as him potentially falling off a bit? That'll be answered in the winter, an important question they must consider.

Bregman has been a staple of the Astros organization over much of the past decade, but as they've shown in the past, they'll let free agents walk. It's worked out for them, too, so it's tough to argue against the decisions they've made.

Will Bregman be the next case? Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report believes so, predicting him to leave in free agency. Reuter added that letting him walk could be the "logical" thing to do with Valdez and Tucker's situation.

"The two sides never hammered out a long-term deal before the start of the season, and now the 30-year-old is poised to test the open market with a 115 OPS+ and 3.1 WAR in 125 games. With Framber Valdez and Kyle Tucker both headed for free agency after the 2025 season, the Astros will need to decide who to prioritize, and letting Bregman walk could end up being the most logical option."

There's no right or wrong answer about what they should do right now. What happens after they make those decisions will determine that. If they let Bregman walk and he doesn't play too well for another team, it'll look like the right decision.

If they re-sign him, and he struggles, and they lose Tucker because of it, it'll look like the wrong one.

The best-case scenario would be for all three to re-sign with the club when the time comes.

Whether that's possible remains to be seen.