Astros utility player just made an easy decision about his future

If you followed the 2025 Houston Astros, you know the margin for bench roles was razor-thin. Houston spent most of the year toggling between lineup continuity and injury patches, and when the dust settled, the club largely locked in its everyday spots with little oxygen left for fringe bats.

That’s the unforgiving reality for a glove-first utility type on a team trying to contend: if you don’t immediately hit, opportunities dry up fast, even when you’re doing the little things right behind the scenes.

That’s why Zack Short’s decision to elect free agency reads less like a surprise and more like common sense. He’s the archetype every spring camp needs, sure hands across the dirt, steady baseball IQ, sneaky pop that plays in bursts, but he also needs a lane.

With Houston’s roster mostly set at the positions he covers, and call-ups prioritized for bats with louder offensive ceilings, the big-league path stayed crowded. Choosing the market gives him something the depth chart couldn’t. Leverage over fit.

Astros depth chart forces an easy call as Zack Short hits free agency

Short’s 2025 line tells the story of the squeeze. In 22 games with the Astros, he hit .220 with two homers and 7 RBI — enough flashes to keep you curious, not quite enough volume to change the calculus. Down in Triple-A playing for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, he logged 112 games and posted a .200 average, but the power showed up with 15 homers and 46 RBI. Those numbers won’t headline any winter meetings, yet they do hint at the profile: reliable defense, pop that can punish a mistake, and the willingness to wear a role without complaint.

For Houston, this is simply the churn of a club trying to wring wins from the margins. The Astros will keep hunting for bench bats who can move the ball and cover innings with the glove; Short, meanwhile, earns the freedom to find a team that views him as more than “first man up/first man optioned.” On the right roster, a club light on true shortstop coverage, or one that values late-inning defense and spot power, his skill set can stabilize a bench and save a couple of games that matter in September.

Electing free agency also resets the narrative. Instead of waiting for a midseason break, Short can target a situation now: a minor-league deal with a clear runway, a spring training invite that comes with real reps at short and third, maybe even a manager who loves late-game chess and keeps a versatile glove active. In a league that’s forever short on dependable infield defense, that’s not wishcasting, it’s a market niche.

Short will get that opportunity to work elsewhere — very likely with a spring training invite attached. For a player built on versatility and persistence, choosing his next bet was the easy part.