Fallout from Framber Valdez drama could cost Astros ace dearly in free agency

For most of the season, it has appeared that Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez is ready for life after Houston. As one of the top free-agent starting pitchers on the market this offseason, Valdez is seemingly in line for a lucrative payday, but his recent actions may be raising red flags from interested teams. The latest example is when Valdez seemed to intentionally hit his battery mate, Cesar Salazar, on purpose.

The fallout from the incident has seen the Astros scrambling to tell everyone that it was truly an accident, but the video remains pretty telling. As Chandler Rome of The Athletic points out, this is not the first time that Valdez has taken aim at his own team. Earlier this season, Valdez essentially threw the Astros' coaching staff under the bus, questioning the defensive alignment behind him.

This week's development seems to have opened the door to the Astros also revealing what lengths they have gone to in order to protect Valdez's image.

"Tuesday offered another test of Valdez’s emotions, something the Astros have worked tirelessly to help him have more control of. Much of the credit goes to Dr. Andy Nuñez, one of the team’s sports psychologists based in the Dominican Republic," Rome revealed in The Athletic.

Framber Valdez might be sabotaging his next deal with latest drama

When it comes to a pitcher like Valdez, career ERA of 3.23 and an established 4-WAR starting pitcher, teams often are willing to look the other way on many things. Being a bad teammate, however, and not being shy about criticizing the team's coaching staff could be a different story. If anything, Valdez's antics this season will lead to interested teams doing some extensive vetting before floating a lucrative long-term contract in front of him.

There could be some factors outside of his behavior that also lessen the payday in front of Valdez. Major League Baseball is barreling toward a work stoppage after the 2026 season, and with many expecting the 2027 season to be lost, Valdez could be deemed a long-term risk, considering he'll be turning 32 in November.

An outlier still could exist that overlooks all the negative traits surrounding a pursuit of Valdez, but as his free agency approaches, the Astros' starter is doing himself no favors.

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