I'd say this borrows money (mostly fake AAV money at that) from 2028 and 2029 to bolster roster in 2025-2027. Very good deal as Astros likely better in 2025-2027 and we'll still have Altuve to cheer for in 2028-2029 if Brown doesn't fix farm before 2028.
Outstanding news! Part one of Operation Extension is complete, now it’s time for Crane and Brown to focus on Bregman and/or Tucker.
I was fearing it would take more to lock him down. Can't complain about this in the slightest, he should retire an Astro. Honestly he's probably gonna need to start DHing some, but I will never doubt his ability to hit. I did that for years assuming he would never be able to reach/return to certain levels and won't do it again.
PS I couldn't help myself. As a representative of the math nerd community, this is the can. You kick the can when you are building a team until you have players that can win it. When you have those players, you have to be selective of which ones you keep after you start winning. I would have liked to have kept Springer as well, but Altuve is Mr. Astro.
Altuve never signed a monster deal, and there were talks about how much he cost himself signing that early extension. Maybe he did, but 12 years 288 million since he would have originally been a free agent...I think he'll survive.
Think they sign Tucker too. Bregman…not sure of. Altuve the professional. Probably could have gotten more money but I know he did the right thing.
For his age 35-39 seasons he won't be worth 2/3 of that but I'm glad he will be an Astro for life. I honestly thought $18-20M AAV for 6 years through age 40 would get it done, but I will never begrudge him for getting more. As someone else has already said, he has already earned this.
They are already handling Alvarez with kid gloves, I think that the chances for another extension for him is unlikely. He was the best left fielder in the league last year and will play primarily as a DH this year due to injury concerns.
