The Houston Astros’ streak of seven consecutive appearances in the American League Championship Series came to an end in 2024 after losing to the Detroit Tigers in the wild-card series.
Now that the season is over, the Astros will have to make a decision on one of their longtime players who has become a free agent.
Third basemen Alex Bregman has played for the Astros his entire career, dating to 2016, but they now may be hesitant to re-sign him.
With that in mind, former New York Mets general manager Steve Phillips named the two big questions for the Astros this offseason.
“I’m not convinced they can sustain a payroll that has Bregman and Kyle Tucker for the long term,” Phillips said, via MLB Network.
Will the Astros be able to sign Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker long term?@StevePhillipsGM isn’t convinced. pic.twitter.com/noKOH8NVD1
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 25, 2024
Tucker is another big-name Astros player who will become a free agent after the 2025 season.
Phillips said he doesn’t see the Astros being able to sign both Bregman and Tucker to long-term deals, so the team may have to decide on which player they would rather have.
Bregman played in 145 games in 2024 and batted .260 with 26 home runs, 75 RBIs and a .768 OPS.
Tucker played in only 78 games but batted .289 with 23 home runs, 49 RBIs and a .993 OPS.
Phillips posed a possible strategy of signing Bregman long-term, letting Tucker go, and adding another left-handed power hitter like Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs.
It will be interesting to see how the Astros handle the Bregman situation this offseason, as it might give some insight into their plans for Tucker next offseason.
