The Astros seem like they\u2019re reaching the end of their decade-long contention window. They missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016, ending a run of dominance that included seven division titles, four AL pennants, and two World Series championships. Instead of restocking their roster with a bunch of high profile moves, they opted to make a bunch of smaller moves around the fringes of their roster, hoping that their core can bounce back in 2026.<\/p>\n
From 2017 through 2024, no team in baseball had a better offense by wRC+ than Houston, and only the Dodgers scored more runs during that period. In \u201825, that vaunted offense sputtered to a 100 wRC+ and its lowest total runs scored since 2014. Yordan Alvarez was hurt for most of the season, Jose Altuve showed his first signs of aging, and Christian Walker was a bust as their new first baseman. A surprise reunion with Carlos Correa at the trade deadline helped somewhat, but it wasn\u2019t enough to lift this lineup out of their doldrums.<\/p>\n
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With a starting rotation that was in dire need of reinforcements, the Astros focused most of their roster-building attention there. That means that the majority of the lineup that struggled last year is returning in 2026.<\/p>\n
Notable Transactions<\/p>\n
Out: UTIL Mauricio Dub\u00f3n, INF Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas, OF Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez, C\/1B Victor Caratini, OF Chas McCormick, OF Jacob Melton, 2B Brendan Rodgers
In: OF Joey Loperfido, INF Nick Allen, C Christian V\u00e1zquez, UTIL Cavan Biggio\u00a0
Italics = Minor League Deals with Spring Training Invite<\/p>\n
The Astros had a surprising amount of turnover on their bench, but like I mentioned above, none of their offseason moves on the position player side of things look to be very impactful. Ur\u00edas and S\u00e1nchez were midseason acquisitions last year and it was a bit of a surprise to see Houston cut bait on S\u00e1nchez so quickly after acquiring him. He was traded to the Blue Jays in February in return for Joey Loperfido, who himself was an Astros prospect before getting traded away in 2024. Defensive wiz Nick Allen was acquired in a swap with the Braves for Mauricio Dub\u00f3n, giving the Astros a better infielder off the bench, though Allen can\u2019t play in the outfield like Dub\u00f3n could. Both of those moves feel like shuffling the deck chairs without actually improving the outlook of the roster in any significant way.<\/p>\n
Order\/Role<\/p>\n
Player<\/p>\n
Age<\/p>\n
Position<\/p>\n
Bats<\/p>\n
PA<\/p>\n
wRC+<\/p>\n
Fld<\/p>\n
WAR<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
Jeremy Pe\u00f1a<\/p>\n
28<\/p>\n
SS<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
651<\/p>\n
108<\/p>\n
0.5<\/p>\n
3.8<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
Yordan Alvarez<\/p>\n
29<\/p>\n
DH<\/p>\n
L<\/p>\n
560<\/p>\n
156<\/p>\n
-0.1<\/p>\n
4.4<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
Jose Altuve<\/p>\n
36<\/p>\n
2B<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
623<\/p>\n
112<\/p>\n
-5.3<\/p>\n
2.5<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
Carlos Correa<\/p>\n
31<\/p>\n
3B<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
567<\/p>\n
110<\/p>\n
5.1<\/p>\n
3.3<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
Christian Walker<\/p>\n
35<\/p>\n
1B<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
595<\/p>\n
104<\/p>\n
4.5<\/p>\n
1.6<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
Joey Loperfido<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
LF<\/p>\n
L<\/p>\n
399<\/p>\n
93<\/p>\n
-0.9<\/p>\n
0.6<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
Yainer Diaz<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
C<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
509<\/p>\n
107<\/p>\n
-4.9<\/p>\n
2.5<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
Cam Smith<\/p>\n
23<\/p>\n
RF<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
448<\/p>\n
97<\/p>\n
0.7<\/p>\n
1.0<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
Jake Meyers<\/p>\n
30<\/p>\n
CF<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
490<\/p>\n
97<\/p>\n
4.5<\/p>\n
2.2<\/p>\n
BN<\/p>\n
Isaac Paredes<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
1B\/3B<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
476<\/p>\n
121<\/p>\n
-0.5<\/p>\n
2.2<\/p>\n
BN<\/p>\n
Zach Cole<\/p>\n
25<\/p>\n
OF<\/p>\n
L<\/p>\n
434<\/p>\n
92<\/p>\n
-0.2<\/p>\n
0.8<\/p>\n
BN<\/p>\n
C\u00e9sar Salazar<\/p>\n
30<\/p>\n
C<\/p>\n
L<\/p>\n
166<\/p>\n
80<\/p>\n
0.6<\/p>\n
0.5<\/p>\n
BN<\/p>\n
Nick Allen<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
INF<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
126<\/p>\n
74<\/p>\n
1.2<\/p>\n
0.2<\/p>\n
BN<\/p>\n
Brice Matthews<\/p>\n
24<\/p>\n
UTIL<\/p>\n
R<\/p>\n
77<\/p>\n
93<\/p>\n
0.0<\/p>\n
0.2<\/p>\n
The big story this spring has been how the Astros are going to handle the logjam in their infield. Correa was ostensibly acquired to replace Isaac Paredes after he injured his hamstring last summer during the Astros futile attempt to push for a playoff spot. Well, Paredes is healthy now and Correa is still signed through 2028. Altuve is probably going to slot back in at second base after his ill fated move to left field last year and Alvarez and Walker are both pretty inflexible positionally. There might be some short-term relief to this logjam after Jeremy Pe\u00f1a fractured a fingertip in the leadup to the WBC \u2014 though the latest reports<\/a> say he might actually be ready for Opening Day. Even with a fully healthy roster, I\u2019m sure Houston will find opportunities for Paredes to play, even if it won\u2019t be a completely full-time role.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The biggest source of improvement for the team will likely be based on how healthy Alvarez can stay. Last year was almost a completely lost season after a hand injury cost him nearly four months of the season. The 118 wRC+ he posted in 48 games was the lowest of his career by a wide margin. Correa also has some lingering injury concerns, with a foot issue forcing him to miss 94 games over the last two years and affecting his play even while he\u2019s on the field. He made the transition to third base after rejoining the Astros in August and maybe that new position will be less strain on his body.<\/p>\n The biggest area of concern for the Astros is their outfield. Jake Meyers took a small step forward last year, posting a career-best 107 wRC+ in 381 plate appearances, but he missed nearly two months of the season with a calf strain. In right field, Cam Smith couldn\u2019t maintain his hot start to his big league career; after posting a 116 wRC+ during the first half, he slipped to an ugly 41 wRC+ after the All-Star break. It\u2019s possible he simply ran out of steam since he only had 32 games total as a professional before his rookie campaign last year. Loperfido is penciled in in left, but he\u2019s struggled to make the jump to the big leagues over the last two years. Zach Cole and Brice Matthews will also see some time in the outfield and both have some massive swing-and-miss issues that are preventing them from really making an impact in the big leagues. I\u2019m sure the Astros would like to push Alvarez into the outfield on occasion but they really shouldn\u2019t for the sake of his health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Astros seem like they\u2019re reaching the end of their decade-long contention window. They missed the playoffs last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2389],"tags":[42,5,9027,451,3225,2129,2263,9280,100,39,139,54,3211,893,18418,452,5828,4942,18040,817,3617,4,2270,3614,5355,2264,43882],"class_list":{"0":"post-626757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-astros","8":"tag-astros","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brice-matthews","11":"tag-cam-smith","12":"tag-carlos-correa","13":"tag-cavan-biggio","14":"tag-cesar-salazar","15":"tag-chas-mccormick","16":"tag-christian-walker","17":"tag-dodgers","18":"tag-houston","19":"tag-houston-astros","20":"tag-houstonastros","21":"tag-isaac-paredes","22":"tag-jacob-melton","23":"tag-jake-meyers","24":"tag-jeremy-pena","25":"tag-jesus-sanchez","26":"tag-joey-loperfido","27":"tag-jose-altuve","28":"tag-mauricio-dubon","29":"tag-mlb","30":"tag-nick-allen","31":"tag-victor-caratini","32":"tag-yainer-diaz","33":"tag-yordan-alvarez","34":"tag-zach-cole"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116240139128934372","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}