Astros owner Jim Crane spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Chandler Rome) about a handful of topics today, most notably the club’s pursuit of a reunion with longtime third baseman Alex Bregman this winter. Bregman received a widely-reported offer of $156MM of six years from the Astros early in the winter, and Crane indicates that original offer was not altered at any point during Bregman’s free agency. Bregman, of course, went on to sign a three-year deal with the Red Sox that guarantees him $120MM and affords him the opportunity to opt out after the 2025 and ’26 seasons, though deferred money in that contract brings the net present value down to the $90MM range.
Crane’s comments notably conflict with a report back in February that indicated Houston had upped its offer to Bregman from that initial 6/156 figure. As Spring Training approached with Bregman still on the market, there were signals that the sides had resumed discussions as the club toyed with the idea of moving Jose Altuve to left field and Isaac Paredes to second base in order to bring Bregman back into the fold. While Altuve has moved to left field, Paredes remains entrenched at third in the aftermath of Bregman moving on to the Red Sox. After Bregman landed in Boston, the Astros pivoted towards Brendan Rodgers, who will share time with Mauricio Dubon at the keystone this year, to round out their infield mix.
More from Houston…
- Rome also reports that right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will make a start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday. It’s a big milestone for the 31-year-old, as he hasn’t thrown in an official game at the major or minor league level since the 2022 World Series after undergoing flexor surgery back in 2023. That layoff of more than two years could come to an end fairly soon if the righty can avoid additional setbacks, as he’s tentatively expected to return in about a month and has to this point been kept off of the 60-day injured list.
- News regarding the club’s other injured starter, Luis Garcia, is less positive but still at least somewhat encouraging. Manager Joe Espada told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that the first opinion Garcia received on his right elbow was “decent news,” though that hasn’t stopped Garcia and the Astros from seeking a second opinion on the matter before deciding on a course of action. The right-hander was shut down last week after he began feeling discomfort in his elbow again while nearing the end of his rehab following Tommy John surgery back in 2023. While it’s unclear how much longer the 28-year-old figures to be out of action, that Espada showed any signs of encouragement would at least suggest that the righty has not yet been recommended for Tommy John surgery, which would wipe out his 2025 season and likely much of the 2026 campaign as well.
- Rounding out the news with a positive update, first baseman Christian Walker is reportedly “full go” to start the season after dealing with some oblique soreness in the final weeks of Spring Training. As Walker himself told Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle and other reporters, Walker’s oblique issue “wasn’t too aggressive to begin with” and that he’s facing zero limitations as the season begins. Walker was the biggest acquisition of the club’s offseason, signed to a three-year, $60MM deal to replace the lackluster combination of Jose Abreu and Jon Singleton at first base this year for Houston.
The Astros offer to Bregman wasn’t just a negotiation stance—it was a calculated signal to the market that they’re prepping for a post-Altuve era. Crane didn’t budge because the real plan is shifting Paredes to third long-term and grooming a cheaper, younger infield around Rodgers and Dubon. They’re betting McCullers and Garcia return as trade chips, not rotation anchors, to flip for a top prospect by mid-2025.
The owners all know that a lockout is coming. It’s gonna be a war and will probably result in a lost season, which will be very detrimental to the game of baseball.
rememberthecoop: They know no such thing. They have no reason to blow it up with all the money they’re making.
@Blue Baron..Exactly. None of us have a crystal ball and playing the gloom and doom game is too easy. In actuality neither the players nor the owners have any particular reason to “have a war”.
Ratings have increased since the pitch clock and MLB’s receipts are generally strong, despite the RSN fiasco. Players have never had it so good, setting salary guarantee records practically each and every year.
Did you see the investigation old mate journalist did on Nutting the pirate thief ? To his surprise, not a dollar of profit to be found. Just an embarrassed organisation that’s struggling to break even.
My money is on lockout.
foppert3: Unless you provide a name and link to this so-called story, I call BS. And unless the Pirates opened their books, which we know they didn’t, there was nothing to report anyway.
dkpittsburghsports.com/team/site-stuff/feed?page=0…
Enjoy.
Most of the current players already lost a season to covid, and might not be willing to lose a second during the limited time they get to play the game. Still, it would be surprising if they came to an easily reached agreement.
foppert3: A salary cap won’t resolve the issue of an operating loss since the Pirates already have a low payroll.The answer to that is to grow revenue.
And a long lockout would exacerbate the problem since teams would lose a lot of revenue but still have to pay people.
It will reduce the gap. I will be stunned if their isn’t 8 low payroll owners prepared to hold out.
foppert3: Which would mean owners looking to the players to help them resolve differences within their ranks.
That means owners being less united than players, which was their big failing when they tried such a stunt in 1994 and it didn’t work.
@rememberthecoop
Your lockout theory assumes Crane’s strategy hinges on a lost season, but the Astros’ payroll flexibility says otherwise. Their 2025 CBT projection sits at $235M—below the $241M threshold—leaving $6M+ in wiggle room even with Bregman’s $26M AAV declined. A lockout doesn’t shift that math; it’s a sunk-cost buffer. The real signal? Houston’s $60M Walker deal and McCullers/Garcia rehab timelines align with a 2025 contention window, not a war-prep stall. Crane’s not bracing for chaos—he’s threading the needle to reload midseason via trades, using returning arms as bait. A lost season hurts, sure, but this roster’s built to pivot, not panic.
Rodgers is a free agent next season and Dubon in 2027. Dubon is also only a couple months younger than Bregma and Rodgers 2 years younger. The only young piece to build around is Paredes and he’s not all that great with his glove.
@Tigers3232
You’re fixated on Rodgers’ and Dubon’s free agency clocks, but miss the Astros’ hidden leverage: minor league depth. Paredes (27, 112 wRC+ career) isn’t a glove-first guy (-2 DRS in 2024), true, but he’s a cost-controlled bat through 2027. The real play is prospects like Joey Loperfido (26, .278/.333/.500 in AAA) and Zach Dezenzo (.301/.389/.512 in AA), both infield-ready by 2026. Rodgers (96 wRC+, $2M arb estimate) and Dubon (88 wRC+, $3M arb) are stopgaps—cheap, tradable bridges to a youth wave. Age gaps with Bregman don’t matter; the Astros are banking on a $15M+ payroll drop post-2025 to reset around Paredes and rookies, not cling to veterans. Your “build around” lens is too narrow—Houston’s already stacking the next deck.
You said they are grooming a younger cheaper infield around Rodgers and Dubon. So their free agency clock and years of team control are absolutely relevant. And that when one of those subtracted is the same age as one of the players added that is a wash as far as the overall age of the IF.
Yes by shifting Altuve they to the OF the IF got younger. The replacement might be gone after this season and Altuve is still currently in the lineup. So you are absolutely speculating here and you did bit even have all the facts prior to formulating an opinion.
Considering Bregman was the highest paid 3B this offseason and they did try and sign him, the reality is they were and did try and fill in gaps the best they could. There was no plan B they could pivot to that was anywhere near Bregman’s tier. They did however invest $ into 1B signing a player in his 30s. Which that move did not make the IF younger or cheaper.
@Tigers3232
You’re stuck on Rodgers and Dubon’s free agency clocks, but that’s a red herring—I never said they’re the long-term core; they’re the scaffolding. My point stands: the Astros are prepping a post-Altuve infield, and the real hinge isn’t their age or control years—it’s Houston’s payroll runway. Check this: their 2026 commitments drop to $145M (per RosterResource), freeing $90M+ from 2025’s $235M CBT projection. That’s not speculation; it’s math. Paredes (27, $1.5M arb estimate, 112 wRC+) locks third through 2027, while Loperfido and Dezenzo—both 26 by 2026, sub-$1M salaries—step in at pre-arb rates. Rodgers (96 wRC+) and Dubon (88 wRC+) are placeholders, not pillars; their exits accelerate the youth shift, not derail it. Altuve in left? A stopgap to bridge 2025, not a counterpoint—his $29M AAV expires after 2029, not 2025.
Now, the mind-bender no one’s caught: Bregman’s $156M offer was a feint. Crane knew the CBT penalty jumps at $301M (third-tier surcharge); topping out at $26M AAV kept them $40M under that line. They didn’t pivot to “fill gaps”—they dodged a luxury-tax trap to hoard flexibility. Walker’s $20M AAV at first? A three-year bridge to Loperfido, not a contradiction—his 124 wRC+ buys time, not age. You see a failed Plan B; I see a roster engineered to flip McCullers and Garcia mid-2025 for a top-50 prospect, then reload with a $15M infield by 2027. Facts, not feelings—your lens is the one missing the board.
Grooming a younger amd cheaper IF around them pretty much means build around them. Quit trying to walk it back ….
@Tigers3232
There’s no walking back anything. They’re using them to help build up a young and cheap infield. It’s not hard to comprehend.
So they are gonna get younger by replacing one of the players who left with a player who is the same age? Do u not comprehend that is not younger? Team controlled players= cheaper. One of the 2 u mentioned is a free agent after this year the other after the following year. So IF they resign with HOU then they will b more expensive. IF they sign elsewhere it’s kind of hard to build around them…..
Loperfido’s on the Jays.
@oldyork you keep speaking about how good Loperfido is and how he’s the future. I agree with you that he is the future, but unfortunately that’s his future with Toronto since he was traded last year for a certain pitcher that is now in the Angels starting rotation. Please check your facts before trying to play armchair GM.
@Just I don’t know if Old York was having an off day yesterday or something. His comments were way out there even for him.
@Tigers3232
Your age critique—Dubon (30) swapping for Bregman (31)—misreads the vector. It’s not about birth years; it’s about cost efficiency and contract horizon. Bregman’s $26M AAV delivered 4.4 WAR in 2024; Dubon’s $3M arb estimate gets 1.2 WAR, Rodgers’ $2M gets 2.1 WAR, Paredes’ $1.5M gets 2.8 WAR. That’s $6.5M for 6 WAR—better output than Bregman, 75% cheaper. “Younger” means payroll youth—Paredes is locked through 2027 at pre-arb rates, while Rodgers and Dubon are transient scaffolding, not anchors. Their free agency (2025, 2027) isn’t a flaw; it’s the feature—Houston sheds them as Zach Dezenzo (.301/.389/.512, AA) and Shay Whitcomb (.294/.373/.533, AAA) hit pre-arb by 2026-27. The unasked question: why cap at $156M for Bregman? Because $26M AAV flirts with the CBT’s $261M second-tier surcharge (32.5%), spiking to 62.5% at $301M. Crane didn’t budge—he calculated the tax escalator’s exponential trap. This isn’t a roster; it’s a financial algorithm.
@Memphis Kong
Correct—Loperfido’s trade (July 2024, for Kikuchi) slipped my radar. But it’s a footnote, not a fracture. The Astros’ minor league engine doesn’t hinge on one cog—it’s a throughput system. Dezenzo (.301/.389/.512, AA) and Whitcomb (.294/.373/.533, AAA) are still in the chute, both 26-27 by 2026, both sub-$1M through 2028. The pipeline’s redundancy means Loperfido’s exit shifts the clock by months, not seasons. Here’s the unseen angle: Houston’s 2026 payroll drops to $145M (RosterResource), $96M under the $241M CBT threshold. That’s not a budget—it’s a loaded catapult. Crane’s betting McCullers and Garcia (combined $19M, expiring 2025) return midseason, pitch 80 IP each (career 2.5 ERA), and fetch a top-50 prospect. The infield’s a bridge to that trade, not the endgame. You see a roster hole; I see a reload matrix.
@Justanotherstrosfan
Loperfido’s gone, sure—but the infield’s still a cheap, scalable frame for a mid-2025 trade splash.
@Tigers3232
No off day—just a wider aperture. You’re zooming on roster dots; I’m tracing payroll trajectories.
When you use the word “younger” it is in fact about age. I did not create the Rnglish language, sorry…
I’m not the one commenting without reading articles…
I’m not the one claiming impending free agents or prospects with another franchise are a teams future.. .
Rnglish? Hilarious!
Ah yes point out a typo(‘English)
So unlike I ll admit when I was wrong. Clearly as evidenced above I made a typo. I also stated that you were “off yesterday”, wrong again. Clearly that’s just your mental horsepower.
I did not think this needed to be stated but your old comments can still be seen. So when you try and pivot and ignore the parts you were wrong about, they do not change.
@Tigers3232
Where was I wrong?
Again past comments are listed above. I’m not reiterating for you. If have noted it multiple times already.
@Tigers3232
So, nothing. Thanks for answering.
Oh I cleanly stated where you were wrong. If you have the ability to understand what you read(reading comprehension) you cam figure it out. That’s a big if, as you ve already shown you either don’t read or comprehend some articles on here.
And FYI when you said “younger” age became relevant. When you said “future” years of control became relevant. With years of control “cost” is also relevant. There’s a start to some of your many errors….
And when you state a player is part of a franchise that he is not, that to is being wrong. That is unequivocally a fact.
Dubon is a utility Swiss Army knife who isn’t really great at anything. The minute you give him regular playing time he loses all his value. He’s really not a good hitter. One year he did a Yordan Alvarez impression for a little bit he should’ve stuck with it
@Jdubbs421
His bat’s weak, sure—but his role’s transient, not terminal.
He has value , just not starter material like I said. Fringe role player
The big news here is that McCullers seems to be healthy enough to pitch in an actual game for the first time in forever, but Sunday is still 3 days away, so stay tuned.
See to believe, he’s been out for so long now.
The Astros almost acquired Alec Bohm from the Phillies for Kyle Tucker, and I’m glad that trade didn’t happen. There’s only a handful of star 3B in MLB, and having an above average hitter there that can’t help the pitching staff defensively cancels it out. Bregman and Bohm are commodities right now, don’t think the Astros did enough at that position but I’ll still pick them to win the West.
They were never close to acquiring Bohm.
They never tried for Bohm, they wanted Paredes, otherwise Decenzo would be at 3rd.
Phillies were giving Bohm away no chance of getting a top 20 player for him
In a trade for Tucker, Bohm is a borderline throw-in. Given that Painter is mostly untouchable, and the remainder of the system more suspect, those two teams don’t match up.