5 players who are entering their final days on the Astros

The Houston Astros have been very diligent in culling their roster on the fly this season. Sure, they kept playing Chas McCormick for far too long, but they deserve some credit for being willing to absorb Jose Abreu's contract as a sunk cost and sending Rafael Montero to the minors to build the best bullpen possible. Every team makes mistakes, but the Astros have done well to acknowledge and move on from them in 2024.

With the 2024 season heading towards its inevitable end (and hopefully with a deep playoff run attached), the question now becomes who else could be on the chopping block, as well as who Houston could lose when free agency opens up.

Here are the Astros players whose time with the team is winding down

If you are looking for a complete list of every pending free agent and non-tender candidate for the Astros, prepare for disappointment. That day will certainly come when a true deep dive will make sense. Instead, this is a look at the state of the Astros' roster as the 2024 season winds down, and an attempt to identify high-ish profile names that may be on their way out for one reason or another.

Here are some of the Astros whose tenures with the team could end with the conclusion of the season.

Chas McCormick

Man things can change in a hurry from one season to another. McCormick was a genuinely good player in 2023 who all fans wanted to see be a part of the Astros' future. 2024 has been a very different story, as McCormick has both been banged up and also not good when he has played, with a .566 OPS in 254 plate appearances before he got sent to the minors.

The Astros were basically forced to excessively play McCormick this year because of Kyle Tucker's injury, but Tucker's return removes that need. With McCormick set to get a raise in his second year of arbitration, don't be surprised if he just gets non-tendered instead.

Jason Heyward

No surprises here, sadly. While Heyward never reached the levels that his hype through the minors would have suggested, he has put together a really solid big league career. The Astros went out and grabbed Heyward because of his defensive ability, veteran leadership, and potential upside off the bench when the Dodgers let him go.

Unfortunately, unless he is wanting to hang around for another year or two as a bench bat, it feels likely that Heyward rides off into the sunset and enjoys a well-earned retirement instead of returning to Houston in 2025.

Justin Verlander

This one is weird because, given his history with the organization, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that Verlander comes back on a cheapish one-year deal. However, there is no world where the Astros should (or even would) sign him back for the premium he's been commanding the last few years.

Is Verlander a surefire Hall of Famer and one of the best pitchers of this generation? Absolutely. However, he is also 41 years old and looks like it on the mound. At this moment, he BARELY has a case for being included on the Astros' postseason roster this year. All good things must come to an end, and that includes Verlander's time in Houston's rotation.

Hector Neris

Getting Neris back this year was objectively hilarious since he basically spurned the Astros for what ended up being a very marginal raise from the Cubs in the offseason. Overall, Neris has been fine since returning to the Astros, with a 3.86 ERA in his first five appearances. There should be few complaints over the job he has done since the Astros scooped him up.

However, the Astros already have a lot of money committed to their bullpen currently, and it isn't like Neris has shown any willingness to take a cheap deal to stay in Houston previously. With Neris set to hit free agency again, expect him to get a one- or two-year deal elsewhere while the Astros invest their limited resources at other spots (like third base) on their roster.

Alex Bregman

Now we come to the elephant in the room in Alex Bregman. Bregman has been a crucial part of a lot of really good Astros teams, and fans understandably do not want to see him go. That desire only increased when Bregman got hot over the summer and looked again like the hitter he once was.

However, it has been clear for a while that Bregman is headed elsewhere once the 2024 season ends. You don't hire Scott Boras if you aren't looking for anything less that top dollar, and the Astros are incredibly unlikely to give him that, especially now that Bregman is basically the only free agent third baseman of note that is going to be available. While his arm injury is going to raise some questions, expect the bidding to be very real for Bregman this offseason. You can also expect the Astros to largely stay out of the derby for his services.

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