Altuve pushes Astros – time to pay back Bregman and get him to stay

HOUSTON – Jose Altuve hugged Alex Bregman after the Houston Astros' sudden exit Wednesday afternoon and assured his longtime teammate, an impending free agent, “You're coming back.”

“Now,” Altuve said, “it’s time to make it happen.”

Bregman has been an integral part of the Astros for nine years, arguably their greatest producer on the field and undoubtedly the most important part of their winning culture. Altuve is hoping Game 2 of their wild-card series — a season-ending 5-2 loss to the surging Detroit Tigers — isn't his last game in an Astros uniform.

“We won’t be the same organization without him,” Altuve said. “In my opinion, there is no chance of this being the last time.”

In the 2024 season, the Astros made it to the playoffs with a 7-19 start, becoming the first team in the expansion era to do so. However, their streak of seven consecutive appearances in the American League Championship Series came to a quick end after two wild games. Card games that featured the offense going a combined 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

“I haven’t had a chance to process it yet,” Bregman said of his ongoing free agency. “I was planning on being here tomorrow.”

After the game, he went to X and simply posted, “Thanks Houston.”

Bregman, 30, is a two-time All-Star who has posted 38.3 FanGraphs wins above relief since his first full season in 2017, the second-most among major league third basemen. Equally important, he was a central figure in what has become a dynastic run in Houston. Speaking to ESPN earlier this week, Astros general manager Dana Brown expressed optimism that this would continue.

“I think it will work out,” Brown said. “If you really think about it, I think he wants to stay here. I think we want him to stay here. And it’s just a matter of reaching some sort of agreement.”

The six-year, $151 million extension that Matt Chapman recently signed with the San Francisco Giants is considered the cornerstone of Bregman's new contract. Like Bregman, Chapman is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, who often implores his clients to maximize their value on the open market, something that could complicate matters for the Jim Crane-led Astros. Under Crane, the Astros have foregone free agent awards in recent years and let key players go, most notably Carlos Correa and George Springer.

A notable exception was Altuve, also a Boras client, which signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension in February.

He hopes Bregman is someone else.

“He gave a lot to this organization,” Altuve said. “Now it’s time for us as a team, as an organization, to get back at him and make sure he stays here.”

Asked if he would talk to Crane about it in person, Altuve said, “Absolutely.”

The Astros have not yet made a formal offer to Bregman but are expected to do so in the near future. The end of the World Series triggers an exclusive, five-day negotiating window between teams and their players before the rest of the market opens. The Astros hope to then get a feel for their chances of keeping Bregman.

“I think it's very important,” Brown said, “and we're going to try to get ahead of it.”

Bregman has made his mark on the Astros not just through his consistent production or his propensity to come through in big games, but also through his influence in the clubhouse. The 2024 season provided a variety of examples. Bregman encouraged Hunter Brown, who threw 5⅔ innings of one-run ball on Wednesday, to throw his two-seamer, a pitch that changed the course of his season. He begged Framber Valdez to wear his hair extensions again in late June, after which he pitched like one of the best in the game. And he continued to mentor a number of young players.

“Since day one, I feel like Breggy kind of took me under his wing,” Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena said. “When I need advice, he's probably one of the first people I turn to and I feel like he gets me through every time. Just a great teammate. I also consider him a friend.”

Bregman is off to one of the worst starts of his career this season, with his slash line sitting at just .201/.270/.264 as of May 12th. But he made an adjustment to his hips and went on to post an .845 OPS for the remainder of the regular season. Unsurprisingly, the Astros rose in step with their bat.

Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, who was left off the playoff roster and will soon face his own uncertain future in free agency, called Bregman “one of the most impressive baseball minds and competitors I've faced in this game.” had to do.”

“At the beginning of the year he obviously wasn't the hitter he wanted to be, but he shows up in defense every single game and shows up here in the locker room every day ready to put in the work and also the people around him “Helping him around,” said the 41-year-old Verlander. “Honestly, I can’t say enough great things about him.”

The Astros gave Bregman a nice sendoff in the home regular-season finale on Sept. 25. He was sent onto the field alone while one of his walk-up songs played over the speakers at Minute Maid Park, then he was substituted and received a standing ovation. There was no such ovation on Wednesday. Bregman grounded out to left in the eighth inning, his team already trailing by three runs, and ceremoniously jogged back to the dugout. After the Tigers finished taping, he stood at the railing to briefly watch them celebrate, then headed back to the clubhouse.

Bregman then gathered his teammates to tell them how proud he was of the way they fought and the growth so many of them have experienced over the last six months. He called this “one of the funniest seasons I’ve ever had.”

There will be uncertainty.

“I really haven’t even thought about this free agency stuff,” Bregman said. “I was just focused on helping this team win ballgames. I just wanted to leave everything on the field. Of course, you never know what's going to happen in the offseason, but I just wanted to fight as hard as I could.” The guy next to me in the clubhouse.