The MLB hot stove has been set at medium-low all offseason, with occasional spurts of intense flame. Monday was a rather busy day with all of the minor transactions across the league (the New York Yankees’ trade for Caleb Ferguson being the highlight!), and Tuesday finished with a bang after a relatively calm morning and afternoon.
The Houston Astros and Jose Altuve have agreed to a five-year, $125 million contract extension, which will almost certainly keep the pesky second baseman with the Astros for the rest of his career. Not only that, but any and all distractions from Altuve entering a contract year have faded.
Yankees supporters, at the very least, believed the uncertainty would have an impact on the Astros’ 2024 season. However, another team-friendly agreement will keep Altuve comfortable and happy without breaking Jim Crane’s budget.
The Bronx has a profound dislike for Altuve, and the reality is that he was always meant to be an Astro, so whether it happened now or in November 2024 was irrelevant. The nightnare was never supposed to finish.
What makes matters worse is that Altuve’s deal allows the Astros to maintain their core intact. Maybe they won’t pay Alex Bregman a premium after 2024 (he’s now the only high-profile Astro approaching a contract year), but this will allow them to prioritize another slugger who was formerly thought to be a future Yankees target.
Kyle Tucker, who is expected to want a large contract when he enters free agency after 2025, could now be a significant focus of Houston’s future plans.
Did Astros-Jose Altuve contract take Yankees out of the market for future free agent?
This is considerably farther down the line, but Tucker and the Astros agreed to a one-year, $12 million contract in 2024 to avoid arbitration, and will try again in 2025. After the two sides agreed on that fairly generous figure, it was widely understood that work was being done behind the scenes to persuade Tucker to stay. No troubles with arbitration are usually a good sign.
But Altuve’s contract terms are generous, giving the Astros greater options with Tucker. Altuve will earn $30 million between 2025 and 2027, followed by $10 million between 2028 and 2029. The Astros can backload a hypothetical Tucker contract and avoid stacking the high-paying years of the
Nobody said it was going to be easy, but this certainly helps. Tucker’s rise has coincided with a downturn in Bregman, which may make the Astros’ intentions more evident. Furthermore, they secured Bregman’s prime years with a different team-friendly agreement (five years and $100 million), and the third baseman will now enter free agency as he approaches his age-31 season.
Tucker’s age-29 season will be his first as a free agent, which isn’t a deal breaker, but it makes him a more appealing extension candidate than Bregman. It also helps that he is a lefty slugger who has continuously maintained remarkable power numbers since the truncated 2020 season (his first “full” MLB season).
Just as we were about to start pumping our fists because it appeared that the Astros were blowing it this offseason and closing their championship window, they went ahead and signed Josh Hader and extended Altuve.
There is still much work to be done to keep the status quo in Houston, but Altuve was likely the most significant obstacle. And, with only $66 million committed to their 2026 payroll (with a maximum of $122 million), they may have simply prevented the Yankees from pursuing Tucker and making a major addition while subtracting from a loathed rival.
