3 Astros players who could be casualties of a costly Alex Bregman signing

By far the biggest player from the Houston Astros to hit the open market this offseason is Alex Bregman. The franchise's long-time third baseman didn't sign an extension with Houston and instead was sent to the free agent market.

Bregman, 30, just won the first Gold Glove of his career and he'll add it to a list of accolades that includes a pair of trips to the All-Star Game, two World Series rings and a Silver Slugger Award. It isn't difficult to find out why the club wants to bring him back on a contract that'd see him play out his career in Houston.

Recently, Astros GM Dana Brown told MLB Network's Jon Morosi that the club's mindset is that "Bregman is not going anywhere and we want to sign him". He boldly continued, saying, "I'm going into this offseason with the thought that we're going to get Bregman back. Hopefully we can do it." Those are strong words, and nobody can say Brown is lacking confidence here.

Obviously, bringing Bregman back into the fold would be huge for the Astros. Despite the fact that both their contention window and dynasty could be coming to an end, reintroducing Bregman to the roster to continue dominating the opposition alongside Jose Altuve and Yordan Álvarez should slow that process down quite a bit.

Of course, it can't be that simple. Bregman is going to command one of the offseason's largest contracts on the open market. If the Astros do opt to bring him back, it may very well be at the expense of other superstars on their roster that are nearing their own trips through free agency.

3 Astros who may be forced out of town by an Alex Bregman reunion

We're not simply talking about active roster spots here. Instead, we're looking at players who will be free agents in the near future and stand out as extension candidates. The Astros aren't ever one of the organizations around the league that has payroll issues, but the odds of them re-signing Bregman and all of their other stars all at the same time seem ... slim.

Ryan Pressly

Pressly, 35, has rather quietly been one of baseball's best relievers for over a decade now. In his 12-year career, he's finished a season with an ERA north of 4.00 just one time, making two All-Star Games and earning over 100 saves in the process.

The right-hander is under contract for the 2025 campaign, but not beyond that. Even though he'll be hitting the free-agent market at the ripe age of 36, he's still going to be one of the most heavily pursued relievers out there. The Astros have kept him around for seven years and he's gotten the job done in every single one of them, so they clearly like having him around.

Bringing Bregman back into the fold alongside some of the huge extensions the Astros have already handed out makes it tough to see how they could comfortably add Pressly's new contract into the thick of things. In fact, the Astros are already purportedly exploring trading Pressly ahead of the incoming conflict, despite the right-hander's looming no-trade clause.

He won't command the amount of years the others on this list will, but the dollar amount will surely be sky-high.

Kyle Tucker

Now we're getting into the good part. Tucker, 27, has a case for being one of the most underrated players in all of baseball. He just wrapped up his seventh season in Houston and has earned MVP votes three times while making three All-Star Games. He's truly one of the best all-around right fielders in the game today.

2024 was an injury-shortened campaign for Tucker, but he was incredible during his 94-game showing. He hit 23 home runs while posting a .993 OPS and 181 OPS+ during that stretch, which is a strong enough stat line where you have to wonder how high he'd climb in the AL MVP power rankings if he had stayed healthy all season.

Like Pressly, Tucker is entering his walk year in Houston. Outside of Bregman, Tucker is the only "core" position player without a long-term contract. It feels like the Astros are going to have to essentially choose between keeping Tucker around for the rest of his career or Bregman. Since the club has already been so loud and proud about their pursuit of Bregman, it appears that question has already been answered.

Framber Valdez

Yet another Astros player entering their walk year, Valdez is currently the most expensive of the bunch, but he likely wouldn't command as long of a contract as Tucker due to the fact that he's nearly four years older than the right fielder.

Valdez, 31 on Nov. 16, just wrapped up yet another outstanding year as the Astros' ace and is likely headed for quite the payday. He's set to make $17.8 million in 2025, but that number is going to skyrocket once he hits the open market next winter.

The southpaw went 15-7 with a 2.91 ERA and 136 ERA+ in 2024, lowering his hit and walk rates from last year while once again topping the 170-inning mark on the season. He's been an absolute workhorse for the Astros, but it's difficult to see how he'll be kept around on the contract he's going to command if/when Bregman gets brought back.

With so much money already allocated to Altuve, Álvarez, Cristian Javier and Josh Hader, the Astros are going to have some tough decisions to make. Not only are all of these players making a ton of money, but they're all getting older at the same time. The organization can only hand out these types of extensions for so long before one burns them. It feels like they're going to have to make a choice: Bregman, Tucker or Valdez on a long-term deal?