Framber Valdez just revealed Astros' offseason lie that was all too obvious

The Houston Astros are hosting the Detroit Tigers in a series that represents Framber Valdez's return to Houston since he left during the offseason. Valdez is scheduled to start on Tuesday for the Tigers when Hunter Brown will be making his return from injury for the Astros, but the former was the talk of pregame conversations on Monday.

After it seemed the Valdez's free agency stalled during the offseason, the Tigers stepped in to make an aggressive offer at the start of spring training. The early returns on that deal haven't been great. Valdez has struggled, and no surprise to Astros fans, he's also been at the center of some drama.

Those two things were evident during Valdez's final month with the Astros last season, and was among the reasons why it seemed clear that the two sides were ready to go their separate ways. Yet, Astros seemingly left that door open towards the end of the offseason, suggesting that the Astros were still in contact with Valdez's camp.

It seems that may not have been the complete truth. Valdez revealed to reporters on Monday that while he was open to returning to the Astros, Houston had no such conversations about a reunion.

Dana Brown just got caught in awkward Astros' Framber Valdez lie

Again, that type of honesty shouldn't come as a complete surprise. By the end of the 2025 season, it seemed clear that the Astros were tired of Valdez's act. Sure, he once was the team's ace, but the entire last season felt like he was angling toward his departure.

Not to mention, when Brown made this comments, the Astros had already signed Tatsuya Imai and traded for Mike Burrows. It was clear that the door was closed on Valdez returning to Houston. Perhaps Brown was just doing a solid for Valdez and trying to create pressure for the teams actually involved in his bidding. Outside of the Tigers, it's not exactly known what other team has interest in the 32-year-old starting pitcher.

Of course, the Astros' efforts to replace Valdez during the offseason already are aging poorly. Imai was looking stronger in recent outings, but his five-run outing over the weekend pushed his ERA to 6.43. Among qualified starting pitchers, Burrows has the highest ERA in the American League with 5.86. Not to mention, Ryan Weiss has already been designated for assignment.

There's no doubt the Astros made the right decision to move on from Valdez, but there's also no doubt they could've done better with how they replaced his spot in the rotation.

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