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Astros remind Houston “there's still a good window available” for more championships
Oct 24, 2023, 11:20 am
Astros look ahead after losing ALCS to Rangers. Composite Getty Image.
Another award-filled offseason could await the Houston Astros
Few people on the planet could have more reason to be devastated after the Houston Astros 11-4 ALCS Game 7 loss to the Texas Rangers than second baseman José Altuve.
This is a man, after all, who single-handedly snatched a victory from the Rangers in Game 5 when he demolished a three-run homer in the 9th inning, taking the Astros from a 4-2 deficit to a 5-4 win and thus helping cement a return to Houston and another title win.
But as he stood in a sedate Astros clubhouse in Minute Maid Park after the 11-4 stunner, Altuve displayed the calm, balanced demeanor that has made him a team superhero during the Astros recent reign.
“That’s baseball,” he told the media gathered around him late Monday, October 23. “Sometimes you’re winning, sometimes you're losing. You have good games…and not good games. I think, you know, we [have had] some ups and downs through everybody’s career…sometimes, like I said, winning, sometimes, you lose. That’s baseball — and you have to move on.”
Just how can he move on? He remembers — and wants everyone to know — that he and his teammates “never give up,” and, “that we play a hundred percent.”
Alex Bregman, who like Altuve, helped the Astros claim two World Series wins in five years, seemed to reflect the daze of so many fans swarming out of the stadium. “I respect these guys so much,” the third baseman and proverbial slugger told the press. “It’s gonna be a different team … knowing that it could be the last time playing with some of these guys is tough.”
Like Altuve, Bregman rallied in Game 7, blasting a signature Breggy Bomb against Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer in the third inning, bringing the Astros within two runs. But, Bregman added, “it comes down to execution, and we didn't do a good enough job of that. And they did, and you tip your hat to them.”
Questions rightfully turned to Bregman’s contract extension with the team; he, like Altuve, is a free agent after 2024. He hadn’t even thought of that, he revealed, choosing to focus on a Game 7 win. But the third baseman who has battled back time and time against injury and setback to ultimately hoist a World Series trophy reminded fans that isn’t closed to done.
“When you set out in spring training, you set out to win a championship,” he said. “But, you know, we failed plenty of times in this game and … it kind of keeps you hungry and keeps you coming back for more, and lights a fire in you to continue to try and get better.”
And that was the beauty of Altuve’s and Bregman’s comments that night. The duo and team have, with their success, spoiled us to the point we now just expect a World Series trophy each year — not a bad thing for Houston fans.
Hours later, as national pundits fired off articles marking the “end of a dynasty,” the two superstars responsible for the Astros two gleaming World Series trophies showed the steely resolve that the traits needed to get through a triple-digit game season, divisional and conference playoffs, and a championship: calm, grit, and resilience.
So, as the talking heads pen their “Rangers are the next dynasty” pieces (yes, those Rangers — the oldest MLB team to never win the World Series), fans can look to future Hall of Famers Altuve, Bregman, and the other pivotal player (and future Hall member) who guided a team to two titles: towering ace pitcher Justin Verlander.
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come back here,” Verlander told the media of his excitement returning to Houston via a trade with the New York Mets this season for another run. “It’s a little early to say I’m excited about next year — I’m still dealing with this — but that was on my mind before.”
And then, the line that should give grieving fans hope, and those hysterically hyperbolic sports writers pause as they anoint the next kings:
“I think moving forward,” Verlander added, “there’s still a good window available.”
Not matter who returns, our Astros will be ready to reign next year, Houston. And so should we.
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There's no denying that this year's World Series champs (LA Dodgers) have some serious firepower on their roster. And one of the ways they were able to assemble such a talented team involved players like Shohei Ohtani being willing to differ their money.
Just this week, there was some speculation that the Yankees could do something similar when restructuring Gerrit Cole's contract, that would allow them more flexibility in the present.
The Yankees ended up calling Cole's bluff about opting out, and no adjustment was made to the contract.
But this situation got us thinking, would the Astros consider a tactic like this to maximize the roster? At this point, it doesn't seem all that likely. Just last year, the team handed out a $95 million contract to Josh Hader, without any differed money.
The other factor that also has to come into play is the tax threshold. The organization would have to give the okay to go over it again in order to make a splash signing this offseason. Which unfortunately does not sound like the plan right now when listening to GM Dana Brown at the Winter Meetings.
Astros pitcher hires a new agent
Now that MLB free agency is in full swing, most of the attention moving forward will be focused on players like Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, and Juan Soto.
But for Astros fans, there might be someone else to keep an eye on this offseason and next. Starting pitcher Hunter Brown quietly hired super agent Scott Boras recently.
With Brown still another season away from his first year of arbitration, he should be with the Astros for the foreseeable future.
However, the hiring of Boras does raise some interesting questions. Why make the move now? Certainly, Brown could use some more cash, as he's set to make less than a million in 2025.
Perhaps Brown wants to land some HEB commercials to fatten his wallet. And if Bregman does leave the team in free agency, a spot will open up for another player, in theory. And three of the players in the HEB ads are represented by Boras (Jose Altuve, Lance McCullers Jr. and Bregman).
Jeremy Pena has been stacking cash from Taquerias Arandas for several years now, maybe Brown would like an opportunity to do an endorsement similar to that.
I say all this half kidding, but Brown does look like the future ace of this staff, and I'm sure there are plenty of advertisers that would have interest in Hunter.
There is another element that could have initiated the hiring of Boras. Would Brown be willing to sign an extension early with the Astros similar to the deal the team made with Cristian Javier?
Their situations are actually pretty comparable, except Javier was one year further into his career (3 years of MLB service time) and eligible for arbitration before agreeing to the extension.
If Brown was heading into arbitration this offseason, it wouldn't be surprising at all for the Astros to be considering a long-term deal with him that buys up all his arbitration years. The 'Stros love these types of contract extensions. We've seen them do it with Bregman, the aforementioned Javier, and others.
One of the main differences though between Brown and Javier is their rookie year numbers. Brown only pitched 20.1 innings in his first season (2022). While Javier pitched 54.1 innings his rookie year. However, his rookie season was in 2020, so Javier completed a full year of service time despite the shortened season. Whereas Brown didn't get called up until September 2022.
Another difference is performance. Javier never posted an ERA over 3.55 in his first three seasons. As opposed to Brown, who had a disastrous year in 2023. He made 29 starts, recording an ERA over 5.
It wasn't until May of 2024 that Brown started using his two-seam fastball with great success and becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in the American League.
The Astros had a bigger sample size to judge Javier. However, if Brown has another quality season in 2025, Houston and Brown should definitely be having conversations about an extension. Especially with Framber Valdez being in the final year of his contract in 2025. Hunter could be the unquestioned ace one year from now.
Still, though, there are some concerns with handing out these early extensions. For example, if the Astros had it to do over again, would they still extend Javier?
After receiving his extension before the 2023 season, he went on to post the highest ERA of his career (4.56), and then blew out his elbow in May 2024.
And if we're going by Luis Garcia's recovery timeline from Tommy John surgery, we may not see Javier pitch at all in 2025.
So even with a sample size of three terrific seasons, the Javier extension looks like a miss with the benefit of hindsight. It will be interesting to see if that deal impacts Dana Brown's decision-making going forward.
Especially since Javier was Dana's first big contract extension as the Astros GM.
Be sure to watch the video as we discuss how the Astros can get the most out of their roster, the pros and cons of signing Hunter Brown early, and much more!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon. Find all via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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