2 Astros offseason decisions that already look genius, 3 that look awful

In recent years, the Houston Astros have seen a lot of change sweep through their organization as the team tries to extend its run. While owner Jim Crane may tell you otherwise, many decisions the club has made have been made with a budget in mind.

In addition to not wanting to cross into luxury tax territory, the team has also had to balance restocking a barren farm system that was once the envy of the league while also filling holes at the major league level.

That's led to a lot of moves and decisions being made and while it's very early, some look like a stroke of genius while others seem like big-time whiffs. All will be storylines to watch as the 2025 season marches on.

Moving Jose Altuve to left field has reinvigorated the diminutive star

Somewhat shockingly, the Astros decided to move Jose Altuve, their franchise star, to left field over the offseason. As he ironed out the kinks in spring training, fans were served a reminder that he's not the only star Astros second baseman in franchise history to move to the outfield in the twilight of his career.

Surprisingly, the move was not made to facilitate another star, with the underwhelming Brendan Rodgers and utility man Mauricio Dubon now taking most of the reps at the keystone position. Instead, the move was made to rejuvenate the soon-to-be 35-year-old Altuve, who had begun to slip defensively at second base.

The early returns have been promising. Altuve might never become a Gold Glover out in left, but he's mostly avoided any major gaffes so far and his defensive performance should only get stronger as the season progresses.

Moreover, his bat looks more potent now that he's moved to a less impactful defensive position. Last season, Altuve slashed a more-than-competent .295/.350/.439, which was good for a .790 OPS. While good, those numbers are a far cry from what Astros fans had become accustomed to from their franchise star.

If we exclude the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the .790 OPS Altuve posted in 2024 was his lowest mark since 2013's .678 OPS performance. So far in 2025, his power numbers are back up and his .339/.383/.500 slash line through 13 games has him back in more familiar territory with his .883 OPS ranking above his career mark of .831.

Signing Christian Walker to play first base seems to have been an Astros' mistake

First base was a black hole for the Astros in 2024 with the once-feared Jose Abreu turning into a pumpkin after joining the club ahead of the 2023 season. As a result, the Astros surveyed a crowded first base market this past offseason and landed on Christian Walker, their biggest free-agent signing of the period.

Walker has never been a star, but the 34-year-old joined Houston with the reputation of being one of the better defensive first basemen in the league while also providing above-average offensive production. That resume landed him a handsome three-year $60 million deal, which will carry him through his age-36 season.

Unfortunately, he's off to a frigid start in 2025 with a .176/.250/.255 line and a sky-high 32.1% strikeout rate that mirrors some of his early career struggles prior to his 2019 breakout.

The data on signing first basemen to multi-year contracts in their mid-30s is not great, and while three years isn't a gargantuan commitment, this signing already feels like Jose Abreu all over again.

Trading Ryan Pressly was the right call

One can gripe that the Astros need depth in their pitching staff and bemoan the fact that the return for trading Ryan Pressly was light. Juan Bello, the sole prospect coming back to Houston in the deal, is essentially a lottery ticket. As a 20-year-old last season, he made 22 starts and posted a 3.21 ERA in A-ball. He also averaged just four innings per start and is a long way away from the majors.

That said, the return isn't necessarily the important part. While Pressly overall was pretty solid in 2024 with a 3.49 ERA in 56.1 innings, there were warning signs for the 36-year-old reliever.

First, his K-rate has been on a steady decline for years. His K/9 has dropped from 12.10 in 2022 to 10.19 in 2023, and down to 9.21 last season. Currently, through seven appearances and seven innings pitched, he's barely striking anyone out with a 2.57 K/9 while walking an astronomically high 7.71 batters per nine in his new Chicago digs.

Second, relievers are very volatile and those who have never been truly elite usually tend to come crashing to the ground as they advance in age. This certainly seems to be the case for Pressly, who's been responsible for more cardiac events among Cubs fans than deep-dish pizza this season.

With a $14 million average annual value, keeping Pressly on the roster was an untenable proposition for a team that is trying to compete while avoiding the luxury tax. His struggles in Chicago, combined with the declining strikeout rate, show he's not the lockdown late-inning reliever he once was, and the decision to move on from him was a wise one.

The Astros failure to retain Alex Bregman was a massive gaffe

With the Astros' offense sputtering in the early going, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman winning the NL and AL Player of the Week awards, respectively, was a real gut-punch to fans. While losing Tucker stings, it was clear that Houston wasn't going to have the financial means to retain his services this offseason, and since his trade, a variety of factors have only further increased his projected price tag in free agency.

Instead, Bregman is the real decision the Astros should want to take a do-over on. Despite the back-and-forth negotiations that at points slammed the door shut on the home-grown star's return before cracking it open again, the Astros simply didn't do enough to persuade him to stay.

His fit in the event of a return would've been wonky, with Isaac Paredes manning the hot corner, it would have been Bregman being the one to slide to second base. While that might seem less than ideal, Bregman has the defensive chops to make it work, and would've been a massive upgrade over Brendan Rodgers.

Bregman, on the other hand, has continued to do Bregman things. His .290/.338/.484 line over 15 contests with the Red Sox is about what he's produced his entire career. And that's what makes this decision seem even worse; Bregman is putting up All-Star level performance for a chief rival in the landscape of AL contenders.

Not adding veteran reinforcements to the starting rotation will come back to bite the Astros

The old adage pitching wins championships has certainly been true for the Houston Astros during their recent run. While the club has always also had fearsome lineups, the pitching rotation has often proven vital to getting over the hump as well.

No better example of this exists than the 2017 Astros, who ran out prime Justin Verlander accompanied by Gerrit Cole, Dallas Keuchel while he was at his best, and an underrated Charlie Morton en route to a World Series title.

The 2025 Astros rotation does feature a dominant presence at the top in Framber Valdez, but the depth behind him was shaky heading into the season and has already taken some hits. Hunter Brown is an up-and-coming young flamethrower who is coming off a solid 2024 campaign that he appears to be building on so far in 2025.

Yet the depth has already taken a hit with Spencer Arrighetti, another young arm Houston is counting on, hitting the IL with a broken thumb, leading to Houston to lean even more on Ronel Blanco, Ryan Gusto, and Hayden Wesneski to round out the rotation.

Blanco might encourage you with his 2.80 ERA from 2024, however, his early-season struggles would indicate that his 4.15 FIP from a year ago is more indicative of his true performance. Gusto, a rookie, has spent the majority of his minor-league career bouncing back and forth between the rotation and the pen with varying results.

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