3 Astros contracts We Were Happy to See End, And 2 We're Still Eager to See Expire

Contract we're happy to have off the books No. 2: Aledmys Díaz

Díaz is another player that served his purpose over the years as a member of the Houston Astros. The now-32-year-old signed a surpising two-year, $14.5M contract with the cellar-dwelling Oakland Athletics earlier in the offseason.

His four-year stint in Houston saw him function primarily as a backup infielder at all four positions as well as the backup left fielder for the club in 2021 and 2022.

Díaz has never been one to blow anyone away with his bat or glove, but he can play passable defense all over the diamond and is usually an annual lock to hit double-digit home run totals.

His best season as an Astro came in 2019, his first with the club. In 69 games, he hit nine home runs and drove in 40 while drawing a ton of walks, keeping strikeouts down and posting an OPS+ of 114, the best mark he's had since his rookie season in 2016.

Díaz made just over $12M in Houston and earned a fairly significant raise from Oakland. Fans of the Astros should be happy that he was not brought back for this much money because, frankly, he's not worth it.

The presence of David Hensley on the big league roster should make the loss of Díaz that much easier to handle for Houston. The 26-year-old played in only 16 games in The Show last year, but hit .345 while playing four different positions around the diamond for the club.

Contract we're happy to have off the books No. 3: Justin Verlander

This is where it gets interesting. Please hear me out here.

Verlander, a first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the best pitchers of this generation, had a hugely successful five-year stint in Houston before he departed via free agency and signed with the Mets.

In those five years, he won two Cy Young Awards (and earned a second place finish in 2018), earned MVP votes three times and led the league in strikeouts in 2018 with a whopping 290 (he followed this up with 300 the next season).

The reason Verlander is falling under this category is simple: money. The 40-year-old is legitimately getting better with age and is still commanding superstar-level pay. At this time, it wasn't financially wise for the Astros to pursue a reunion, simply because there's current players on the roster that are waiting for contract extensions (see: Kyle Tucker).

What will make the loss of Verlander easier to swallow for Astros fans is the fact that the club still has four ace-level starters in the rotation as well as intriguing prospect Hunter Brown, who looked dominant in a 20-inning cameo last season.

Verlander will forever be remembered as one of the best pitchers to ever play for the Astros over the course of this franchise's colorful history. However, it was time to move on so the next wave of players can get paid.

A contract we're ready to see expire No. 1: Mauricio Dubón

Dubón, 28, appeared in a career-high 104 games last year between the Giants and Astros. He was acquired by Houston for catcher Michael Papierski in May and immediately began to show off his smooth defensive talents, but his bat never caught up.

Long known as a swiss army knife type of player who can line up at virtually any position on the diamond, Dubón made appearances at second and shortstop as well as all three spots in the outfield grass.

However, his bat was atrocious. In 83 games as an Astro, Dubón notched 41 hits with only 11 of them being for extra bases. His speed on the bases was never properly utilized either, which led to him stealing two bags but being caught three times.

In virtually every offensive category, his numbers began to dip dramatically once he received more consistent playing time. Now that all is said and done, he posted a ghastly OPS+ of just 56 in Houston, meaning he was 44 percent below league-average at the plate. Go ahead and let that one sink in.

A contract we're ready to see expire No. 2: Phil Maton

Over the course of his six-year big league career, Maton has largely been a so-so contributor at the game's highest level. Only two times has he ever posted an ERA+ over 100, first in his rookie year and second last year.

The 29-year-old righty appeared in a career-high 67 games on the Astros last year, going 0-2 with a 3.84 ERA and 4.33 FIP. The large difference between the two suggest that he got awfully lucky last year with a solid defense behind him.

Then of course, there's his outburst right before the playoffs that resulted in him missing the entirety of the clubs' march to the World Series. After a poor performance against his brother Nick and the Philadelphia Phillies, Phil punched a locker and broke his right pinkie finger.

Maton's inclusion the 2023 roster now seems to be blocking some of the upcoming pitching prospects the Astros have, including Ronel Blanco, who doesn't have a spot on the big league roster as long as Maton is around. The 29-year-old struggled a bit in a seven-game cameo last year in the bigs but he has looked much sharper in the high minor league levels and should secure a spot on the roster in place of Maton.