Astros owner breaks silence on payroll concern fans have feared for months

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane spoke with reporters when the team introduced Tatsuya Imai earlier this week, and the biggest takeaway was that there may not be in-season extensions looming for general manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada. In addition, Crane responded to a popular theory surrounding Houston's 2026 payroll outlook.

Throughout the early months of the offseason, the impression was that the Astros did not want to go over the first level of the CBT next season. The Astros were a luxury-tax payer in 2025, and considering the increased penalties for being a repeat offender, and the state of Houston's roster, it made sense why Crane didn't exactly want to be aggressive this offseason.

Jim Crane offers a blunt assessment of the Houston Astros' payroll outlook.

Imai's three-year deal with the Astros was created, and it should allow Houston to stay under the CBT to open the season. Still, there remain rumors that one of Christian Walker or Isaac Paredes will be moved before Opening Day to offer more financial space for the front office.

As it stands, the Astros have less than $10M in space before reaching the first level of the tax, $244M.

Reporters didn't pass on the opportunity to ask Crane about the luxury tax, and the owner offered a blunt response.

“Everybody writes that I’m afraid of the luxury tax,” Crane said. “I’m not necessarily afraid of it, but I run the team like a business, and there’s only so much resources you can put into it without going deep in the hole. We don’t operate like a lot of the bigger market teams, but you’ve seen over the years we’ll spend the money when we think it’s right and we’ll be aggressive when we have to be.”

Crane isn't exactly revealing state secrets. While there have been times that Houston has been aggressive, the current trend of rising contracts hasn't exactly been to their liking. The Astros opted to trade Kyle Tucker before he hit free agency this offseason, and Alex Bregman and Framber Valdez are two examples of Houston being willing to let franchise cornerstones walk instead of paying them.

The good news is that the Astros have nearly $100M coming off the books after 2026. That should open up payroll for the front office to take a large swing in free agency while remaining under the luxury tax.