4 former Astros failing miserably with their new team in 2023

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The Houston Astros generally do a good job of picking which players they choose to bet on to keep around for the long haul. Sure, their offers don't always work out as owner Jim Crane keeps his hands firmly on the Astros' purse strings. However, the players that they make any amount of effort towards are usually the right ones.

Despite his recent injury, signing Yordan Alvarez to a contract extension worth six years and $115 million is looking like an absolute bargain. While the extension they gave Alex Bregman back in 2019 hasn't looked as good of late, he has still way outperformed what the Astros have paid him. Even the recent extension that they handed out to Cristian Javier is looking quite nice especially given how high free agent prices have risen.

However, not only have the Astros given out some deals that have worked out very well, they have mostly avoided giving out bad deals. Granted, the Jose Abreu deal isn't looking particularly awesome at the moment, but even that is only a three year deal. If that is the worst deal Houston has on their payroll, they are doing better than most teams in the league.

Here are the former Houston Astros that are failing with their new teams

You need more proof? One only need to look at some of the players that the Astros allowed to leave in free agency. You don't have to look long to realize that it would not have been hard for Houston to have their payroll clogged with underperforming players that would have kept them from making better deals down the line.

Lets get to the former Astros that are struggling mightily with their new teams.

The Astros have to be feeling good that they let Carlos Correa go

Okay, this one is cheating a bit because Carlos Correa left the Astros after the 2021 season. However, his current situation is very instructive in looking at how signing guys to long-term deals can still be a huge mistake even if things look good for said player in the beginning.

When Correa signed a one year deal with the Minnesota Twins after very publicly voicing his displeasure with what the Astros were willing to offer him, a lot of Houston fans were upset that the franchise let a guy go who was among the best hitting shortstops in the league who also had an absolute cannon of an arm at short. Those fears seemed to be confirmed when he posted a 140 wRC+ season with the Twins and looked primed for a huge payday in free agency.

He nearly got one from the Giants, but San Francisco quickly had some pretty big problems with his physical and Correa's mega contract ended up falling through. The Mets tried to swoop in but that deal, too, fell through. Correa finally ended up back with the Twins on a six year, $200 million deal. What was the Twins' reward for bringing Correa back? So far, not very much with Correa slashing .212/.287/.403 with a 91 wRC+ so far in 2023.

Correa may end up being just fine, but it sure looks like the Astros were smart to not commit big money to him right now.

The Astros were right about Trey Mancini

Trey Mancini is one of the game's best feel good stories as his return from colon cancer was nothing short of remarkable. He was good enough in his return to the Orioles that Houston traded for him to bolster their offense during the 2022 season in a three team deal at the trade deadline.

Mancini struggled quite a bit with Houston after the trade and instead of ignoring that lack of production and betting on his previous track record, Houston decided to let him walk and he signed a two year deal with the Cubs before the 2023 season. It looks like the Astros were right to let him go as he is slashing .238/.310/.354 in 61 games with Chicago. We do hope that Mancini ends up proving us and the Astros wrong, though, given everything he has been through.

The Astros were 100% correct to not bring back Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander's time with the Astros was wildly successful to say the least. Between 2018-2022, Verlander posted a 2.33 ERA with Houston with 782 strikeouts in 618 innings of work. Verlander also won a pair of Cy Young Awards and had a second place finish as well. Other than losing the 2021 season after having Tommy John surgery, it was arguably the most dominant stretch of pitching the league has seen in recent memory.

However, after the 2022 season, Houston had to make a decision one whether or not to sign Verlander to another big money short-term deal when he was about to turn 40 years old. Ultimately, Justin ended up signing a two year, $86.66 million deal with the Mets as the allure of snagging a reigning Cy Young winner was too much for New York to pass up.

So far, that does not seem like money well spent for the Mets. While he has been a little better lately, Verlander has posted a 4.22 ERA in 10 starts, has seen a noticeable dip in strikeouts, and was hurt to start the season. Losing that sort of financial investment is basically a rounding error in Mets owner Steve Cohen's checkbook, but Houston has to be glad that isn't their payroll problem.

Even with their catching issues, the Astros moving on from Christian Vasquez was right

The Astros were looking for some catching depth last year at the trade deadline and they ultimately settled on trading for Christian Vasquez from the Red Sox. Vasquez wasn't a flashy addition by any means, but he had put together a perfectly reasonable career in Boston and was having a good 2022 season up until that point.

After seeing his power basically evaporate after the trade, Houston decided to not bring Vasquez back and he ultimately signed with the Twins. Vasquez is not having a great time up north in 2023 as he has put up a .227/.306/.288 line with the Twins while still being a very solid defensive catcher.

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