Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Veteran left-hander Framber Valdez is one of the big headlines in this year’s MLB free agent class. Valdez has spent his entire big league career with the Houston Astros, but there is some doubt that he will return to the team.
If the Astros don’t want to pay Valdez what he wants, he will surely go elsewhere to land his big free agent contract. Houston would be wise to retain his services, but they have historically not spent money on the open market to keep players.
This will likely open the door for other teams to pursue Valdez, and he could easily sign with another team. But where that may be remains to be seen, and is one of the bigger questions around the sport right now.
Valdez has great stuff on the mound, and he could be a real steal for any team interested in signing him. The veteran did receive a qualifying offer from the Astros, which could complicate his free agency.
Since Valdez isn’t an ace, some teams may be wary of signing him, since they would then have to send Houston a draft pick. But Valdez still should have a strong market, especially given he talent that he has on the mound.
Valdez was electric this year over his first 21 starts with Houston, posting a record of 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA, while striking out 141 batters over 134 innings. However, things completely flipped in the second half for him, as he saw his ERA jump to 6.05 over his final 10 starts.
The veteran will also be turning 32 years old, and teams are normally hesitant to hand out large deals to players over 30. But Valdez is one of the stronger arms available, so this could all be for naught.
This is just a prediction, NOT a report!
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One team that could be a sleeper to sign Valdez away from the Astros is the Chicago Cubs. Chicago needs starting pitching help, and Valdez would check a lot of boxes for them.
Chicago made the postseason this year, but it fell in the National League Division Series. The Cubs will be looking to build upon the success from the 2025 season, and adding a talent like Valdez could drastically help things.
The Cubs pitching staff could use an ace-like arm ike Valdez, and he would be a big insurance option for this team. Chicago just brought back veteran left-hander Shota Imanaga on a qualifying offer, but he is likely to leave the team after the upcoming season.
Valdez could give them a solid arm for the starting rotation for this year, next to Imanaga, while also protecting the team for if he were to leave. Chicago has to find a way to build this rotation out to compete against the other elite teams in the NL, and this could be one way.
The Cubs’ owner has said that the team wants to spend, and adding Valdez could give them a legitimate rotation for next season.