Astros: The Approaching Free Agencies of the Core Players

Time for some written words about the Astros and their pending free agents in the coming years.

There has been much debate over the free agency market in Major League Baseball. Players criticize it and fans are left on edge wondering where these guys will end up. By the way, this free agency dilemma will likely affect the Astros soon or later.

However, the beauty of it all is how much it asks more of players. Do we begin to wonder how much is a star worth? This idea has been around for a long time but has genuinely hit a peak this offseason.

So, with the Astros organization pushing to support their winning ways, they will look to take advantage of different factors to keep their top players. Here is a list of notable players to hit free agency by year:

2019 – Charlie Morton, Dallas Keuchel, Evan Gattis, and Marwin Gonzalez
2020 – Brian McCann, Jose Altuve, and Gerrit Cole
2021 – Justin Verlander, Josh Reddick, Yuli Gurriel, George Springer, Brad Peacock and Ken Giles
2022 – Lance McCullers, Chris Devenski, Carlos Correa
2023 – Alex Bregman

What are those factors? Let’s take a look.

The Astros have done well with signing such young talent. By maximizing the benefit of the current collective bargaining agreement, they’ve been able to lock in young players under team-friendly contracts. These contracts have proven to help as this allows the team to dedicate leftover resources elsewhere. This continues to be reflected in today’s pay raise for their top players.

For example, the $1 million restructure for Carlos Correa and $599,000 restructure for Alex Bregman is how the Astros will work to keep these players on the roster for years to come. If I’m not mistaken, they’re the only team who is taking such action.

The uncertainty of Free Agents Market

The offseason has been very intriguing because free agents remain unsigned, they also must take their own action to prepare for the season. The adaptation of their approach to free agency is changing. Players must sell themselves, more than a team pursues them.

For example, Mike Moustakas was offered $17.4 million from the Royals prior to the free agency period. He decided to take his chance and has returned to Kansas City for a $6.5 million, on a one-year deal. Although there most likely are incentives for him to earn, the value is well worth the risk for the Royals.

Next: Astros: The pitching puppet master, Brent Strom

As the Astros begin to discuss these free agency questions in the coming months and years, they will lean on a preemptive strategy to keep players and allow the risky free agency market to work for them.