Breaking down Astros' offseason options on the second base market, from expensive to cheap

A lot of this offseason is the continuation of thought. Last time, we took a look at the wisdom of moving Jose Altuve into the primary DH position. In that scenario, you would need a full-time second baseman.

Fortunately, the market is pretty flush with possibilities even if most of those possibilities are long shots at best. However, the top of the market usually informs the rest of the market, so we should take a look.

The top of the market for the Astros

Brandon Lowe

Lowe made himself a ton of money when he slugged 35 home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. The upside for Lowe is clearly there. He might not be a traditional middle of the order bat, but he is surely darn close and would likely be a better version of Christian Walker as a hitter. The downsides are that he is a fairly traditional power hitter with a relatively low .250 career batting average. While he was great defensively last season (+13 Rfield) he has not been great over the balance of his career.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Engineers often debate between form and function. It's really the same thing with fashion designers. In baseball circles, that would be the glitzy numbers (HRs, SBs, Runs, RBIs) versus just about everything else. Chisholm had 19 dingers and 41 steals last season. He hit more than 30 bombs the season before. He's produced an .800 OPS or better exactly twice and has a .759 career mark. Lots of sizzle, but the pop might be a bit light.

Luia Arraez

Arraez is a fascinating player because he is what Jose Altuve would have become had Altuve remained a slap hitter with extreme contact skills. Three batting titles match Altuve's early resume and he can marginally play in left field if the Astros wanted to go back to a traditional alignment. Arraez will almost certainly be overpaid on the market. Someone will give him $20 million to play baseball, and that seems ridiculous given the actual production.

Gleyber Torres

Torres spills us into what might be closer to middle class in terms of free agent options. 2026 was an injury riddled season for him, but he was paid $22 million on the qualifying offer, so a similar sum is always possible if there is a foolish spender out there. I would peg him more in the $10-15 million dollar range at this stage of his career. His 112 career OPS+ would fit in well in the lineup. He wouldn't be a superstar the level of old Altuve or Yordan, but he would be another good player on a hopefully good team.

Cheaper Options for the Astros

Jeff McNeil

Officially, the A's hold a $15 million option on McNeil, but the odds are they will buy him out. When you consider the extreme run scoring environment that Sacramento was, it was a disappointing season for him overall. However, he did hit a lot better in the second half. He is a career .281 hitter that has always been a high contact guy. The Astros offense has been becoming more strikeout heavy in recent seasons, so getting a contact hitter at this spot might give the lineup some diversification.

Jorge Polanco

2026 never happened. It was a mirage and you should just forget everything you saw. Don't look at his numbers. Pretend they don't exist. You can believe one of two things about Polanco. You can either believe that 2026 was the beginning of the end and that he is a decaying asset, or you can believe it was a blip on the radar and that he could be a bargain. The Astros considered picking him up when they were flirting with Jose Altuve in left field. This wouldn't be completely nuts if you think his 2026 season is just one of those bad years.

Trade Market Options for Astros

There really is only one name prominently on the trade market at this point. Ketel Marte is a name that comes with a number of layers to it. In 12 big league seasons, he has managed to get himself into the periphery of the Hall of Fame conversation, if he can add two or three more productive seasons. However, he has been a huge headache for the D-Backs the last two seasons. It could end up being one of those "take my wife, please" kind of trades.

The downside is four more seasons on a contract that will pay him a minimum of $76 million total, with some performance incentives that could escalate that. It also has a vesting option for a fifth season. He will be 37 when that contract is complete. We have seen what happens to depreciating assets here in Houston with Jose Altuve and Christian Walker. This one just seems like a move some other team would make, but the conversation is a part of the second base market.

Obviously, the trade market is infinite in nature, as teams could trade Triple-A guys that are near ready to compete with the likes of Brice Matthews and Cavan Biggio. There are also others that might become available that don't seem to be available today. This will be a task for the new general manager, and we might have more news on that front very soon.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow