When news broke that Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña hired Scott Boras to be his agent, it was a punch to the gut for most of the fanbase. Astros fans have become accustomed to seeing their homegrown stars leave in free agency, but had been holding out hope that Peña would be the rare case that would actually see Houston invest in a player long-term. Luckily, all hope is not lost just yet.
Predictably, in the wake of the Boras news, Astros General Manager Dana Brown was asked about a Peña extension. Not only did he say that the Astros were still interested in an extension, but Brown also said he has already been in touch with Boras about said extension and plans to continue talks with him again soon.
Astros hopes of Jeremy Peña not completely dead, but it is going to be an uphill battle
While it would've been much better if Peña and the Astros had already come to terms on an extension, it is nice to hear that hiring Boras wasn't an immediate death knell for talks. Houston has a mixed record when it comes to dealing with Boras, but it's hard to not think about the recent departures of Alex Bregman and Yusei Kikuchi which seem to have been driven primarily by the presence of the most infamous agent in all of baseball.
All of that said, one wonders if the odds of a deal getting done haven't already gone to close to zero regardless of what Brown says publicly. The Astros famously don't hand out expensive long-term deals to just anyone, and there is no indication that Peña is going to change their minds. Something in the realm of $22-24 million per year seems reasonable, but Peña didn't hire Boras to be reasonable. No one does. He's going to want top dollar.
For now, being optimistic is the best that anyone can do. Peña is having a career year in 2025 and is a big reason why the Astros are playing so well right now. As for what happens after the season ends, well...hopefully both sides are working on that in good faith.