Final week, Astros GM Dana Brown revealed that he hopes to speak a few new contract with third baseman Alex Bregman previous to the franchise third baseman hitting the open market this November. On the time of that interview, Brown indicated that he and Bregman’s agent, Scott Boras, had briefly talked concerning Bregman’s future and agreed to attend to start any form of contract discussions till “issues are over.” Now, Bregman himself has chimed in and expressed an analogous need to place his impending free company out of thoughts till the 2024 season has wrapped up.
“I haven’t actually considered it an excessive amount of, truthfully,” Bregman instructed reporters yesterday when requested about the potential for leaving Houston, as relayed by Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. “Simply centered on making an attempt to win a sport and get this division clinched… Simply been actually centered on successful.”
Ready till the top of the postseason (or for the Astros to be eradicated) earlier than partaking in talks concerning Bregman’s future in Houston comes as one thing of a shock, notably given Brown’s long-standing dedication to speaking with the third baseman and his illustration earlier than he hits free company. With that being mentioned, it’s not essentially a shock from the participant’s perspective that he would like to deal with the upcoming playoff run earlier than turning to contract negotiations.
Usually, it’s extraordinarily uncommon for gamers to re-up with their present membership this near free company, notably on the subject of stars of Bregman’s caliber. It does occur once in a while, although, because it did when the Mets retained nearer Edwin Diaz on a record-breaking contract simply days earlier than free company opened through the 2022-23 offseason. That Bregman is represented by the Boras Company, which has usually suggested its purchasers to determine their values on the open market, might be one other potential roadblock to a deal coming collectively earlier than he hits free company. After all, it should be famous that Boras purchasers do signal extensions with their golf equipment once in a while; Bregman himself did so earlier in his profession, and fellow third baseman Matt Chapman inked a long-term extension with the Giants earlier this month regardless of a return to free company being simply two months away at that time.
Whereas Bregman’s unsure future looms over the membership in the long term, a way more fast concern is the standing of star slugger Yordan Alvarez with the playoffs simply across the nook. Alvarez exited the membership’s sport on Sunday resulting from a proper knee sprain, however appeared considerably optimistic after chatting with reporters concerning the problem yesterday (X video hyperlink courtesy of KHOU11’s Luis Ortiz). Alvarez mentioned that whereas he’s had a neater time strolling within the days since his exit, he nonetheless has to attend for the irritation in his knee to go down earlier than he can return to enjoying. That may depart him out of motion for the membership’s remaining collection of the season towards Guardians, as supervisor Joe Espada instructed reporters (together with Kawahara) earlier right this moment.
It’s not essentially a shock that the Astros would have Alvarez take the rest of the common season off, given his significance to the membership’s hopes of creating noise within the postseason. In any case, Houston clinched their fourth consecutive AL West title final evening with a win over the Mariners, and it’s now not attainable for them to catch both the Guardians or the eventual AL East champion as a way to earn a bye by way of the upcoming Wild Card Sequence. That makes the ultimate few video games of the common season largely meaningless for the membership, providing them little incentive to hurry Alvarez again and probably worsen his damage woes.
It’s unclear at this level whether or not or not Alvarez will probably be able to return to motion in time for the Wild Card collection, however even when he doesn’t it’s attainable he’ll be out there in later postseason rounds ought to the Astros proceed to advance. His common season involves a detailed with a career-high 147 video games beneath his belt and a sometimes wonderful slash line of .308/.392/.567 with a wRC+ of 167 and 35 homers in 635 journeys to the plate.
It’s an analogous story for outfielder Chas McCormick, who has been on the injured record resulting from a fractured proper hand for simply over two weeks now. As relayed by Kawahara, Espada instructed reporters that McCormick is “transferring in the precise path” and “wanting fairly good” even though he received’t be becoming a member of the membership for its remaining common season video games in Cleveland. The 29-year-old has resumed baseball actions, together with reps within the batting cage and drills within the outfield, and will nonetheless be an possibility for the Astros in subsequent week’s Wild Card Sequence. McCormick had a disappointing common season the place he hit simply .211/.271/.306 (66 wRC+), however he was placing collectively one thing of a sizzling streak within the days previous to his damage as he went 10 for his final 24 with a double, a homer, and a stroll in his remaining eight video games of the common season.
