This reads as if Altuve's bat is a major liability He had a .771 OPS this year in a year that he likely played through injury most of the year Pena, Paredes, Yordan and Correa were the only 4 Astros with better OPS and Yordan and Carlos were in about a third of a season He was 1 HR short of leading the team, and the one guy who hit 1 more than him had an OPS of 718 Now yes, he is a terrible defensive player, and to be honest most of that isn't age, he was never that great we were just GREAT at covering him up with the shift which is no longer allowed He also only has two more years of a big contract, the 3rd and 4th year's that he has left are at 13 million each, and by 2028 13 million will likely be what teams are paying guys at the bottom of their lineup anyway
I am hopeful that 2025 was just an injury marred season. He had an injury marred bad 2020 and came back with a great season in 2021. That said, 2026 will be his age 36 season and all the signs are that he simply does not have the same physical ability to hit. He is slower, his bat is slower, he makes less contact, when he does make contact he does not hit the ball as well. Still, he's better than Nick Allen We need to just accept it and make the best of it. And his actual salary doesn't mean anything. His AAV is $25M every year. Thats what matters
Again, he hit 26 HR and had an OPS approaching .800 Everyone on the team isn't going to have a 1.000 OPS for fks sake Altuve was FAR from a liability last year, we had plenty of liabilities but he wasn't one of them
Altuves bat has never been a liability. His fielding has been on the edge and is not likely to improve. As his bat and fielding are both likely to degenerate over the remainder of his career he will get to the point where his overall value will be negative if he is playing a position. He will be most valuable as a DH for the next couple of years after which he could get a few at bats per week as a bench bat. I still think he has earned a place on this team for as long as he likes but not as a position player. Right now we have two players who both belong at DH. Alvarez and Altuve could split the DH position but it would be wasteful. Alvarez has the best trade value and the right thing to do is cash that in this off season or mid season in 26 at the latest. Play Altuve primarily at DH for the remainder of his career and move forward from there.
Baseball Savant's homepage for each player shows 19 metrics and the player's percentile among all MLB players in each. In 2025 Altuve was 36th percentile or below in 14 of them. And he was above the 61st percentile in only 2 of them. 78th was his best. In 2022 he was below the 49th percentile in only 3 and was 70th or above in 11 of them, including 90th or above in 4. You tell me there is no reason to worry Altuve is in danger of becoming a liability in the batters box
He’s always had a weak savant page even when he was at his peak outside of 2022. Go look at his savant pages for 2020-2021. He might be on the decline but he is really a one of one type of player so normal stat analysis doesn’t apply to him.
I acknowledge he is a unique player and many of the metrics don't really tell the story of Altuve. But you can't look at this and say he's near the same player. 2016 he was 90th + in 7 catagories 2017: 82nd or above in 7. 2018: 80th or better in 6, 77th or better in 9 And now 78th is his best and he's better than 61 in only 2 of 19?
Whatever. I acknowledged your point that Savant numbers mean less to Altuve than most. And yes, I didn't go over his entire career but I think I listed a large enough and all encompasing sample that its not cherry picking. But you said Altuve has " always had a weak Savant page" and directed me to 2020-2021 to prove it. Kinda like cherry picking. I guess 2016-2018 don't count in "always"
I apologize for my snippiness. It's no excuse but my favorite team just gave a raise to a few scrubs instead of ****-canning them. We are both passionate Astros fans, and Altuve fans. I'm pretty sure we both know and agree that he isn't 29 (I corrected it ftom 27 because he is lol) anymore but he's still a better than average hitter and we will enjoy watching and rooting for him for at least 4 more years. Cheers.
Yeah getting rid of a top 5 hitter in MLB when your offense struggled last year is a brilliant idea. Quoted for truth
I have struggled on whether to trade Alvarez or not. By most on this forum, trading him is moronic. I get it, but to me it comes down to what we do to upgrade our starting pitching. We have to replace Valdez’s innings with a TOR pitcher to be competitive next year. If we can’t do that without gutting our farm system, it’s probably time to look at 2026 as soft rebuild and getting the Cam Smith’s and Cole’s the playing time to get ready for 28. Also it will cost a prospect to get rid of Walker, but I would do that as well and try to sign a youngish LH bat that could be ready to start in 28.
I think there is no scenario where the team is better in 2026 OR 2027 without Yordan than they are with him. There are a handful of players every generation that can not be traded unless you are deciding to tank and rebuild. If Yordan is traded it will be 2029 at the soonest before the Astros legitimately compete again. This team IS one SP and one OF away from being a favorite in the AL. You can not trade your best player from this position.
I do not see any point in paying to move Walker, he will be a valuable move for somebody during the upcoming season when a first baseman is injured he will look like a dream come true.
You don’t trade Yordan unless you’re also going to trade Paredes, Pena, Brown, and Hader. Trading an MVP caliber player in his prime means committing to a full rebuild.
You are over estimating the current value of the team and underestimating the return Yordan could bring for now and into the future. I do not expect more than a quarter of a season from him in most years from here on out. He will have no value whatsoever in 2029.
Then you are simply a pessimist. Yordan has huge trade value but you will still be extremely lucky if one of the players ends up as good as him. Most Astros fans think the return for Tucker was good but he had 4.6 bWAR despite missing 36 games. Smith, Paredes, and Wesneski combined for 4.5 Odds are none of those 3 players ever get 4.6 WAR in a year. Let me clarify. I absolutely think trading Tucker was the right thing and am happy with the return. But none of them are Kyle Tucker. Yordan's situation is different. He still has 3 years as an Astro. Look to trade him 2 years from now.
