The concept of Jose Altuve moving from second base to left field first emerged when the Astros reengaged with Alex Bregman late in the offseason. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported at the time that there were talks of re-signing Bregman, sliding Isaac Paredes from third base to second base and shifting Altuve to the outfield. Many initially took that with a heavy dose of skepticism; Altuve, after all, has played all of six major league innings at a position other than second base — and they were all at shortstop.
As Houston brass continued to paint a Bregman reunion as a long shot, however, they kept getting Altuve work in left field. Both manager Joe Espada and GM Dana Brown spoke about wanting to get some looks at Altuve in left and wanting to reduce Yordan Alvarez’s time on the outfield grass. Even when Bregman signed in Boston, the Altuve/left field experiment continued to progress.
The position change seems less like an experiment and more like a reality by the day, and Espada’s latest comments only further that shift. Speaking to the Astros beat this morning, Espada left open the door for Altuve to get some playing time at second base but also suggested it will no longer be his primary position (via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle).
“Right now, the plan is for [Altuve] to play the majority of his games in left field,” Espada stated. “The days that he plays second base opens the door for [Alvarez] maybe getting a start in left field, someone getting a DH day. So this move allows us to be creative and do stuff like that.”
Espada added that frequently shuttling Altuve back-and-forth between the two positions “is something that I am going to avoid.” The second-year manager stopped short of outright proclaiming Altuve the Astros’ new everyday left fielder, but it certainly seems things are trending in that direction.
Altuve is a former Gold Glove winner at second base, but his defense has declined considerably as he’s entered his mid-30s. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him at -13 or worse in each of the past three seasons. Statcast’s Outs Above Average isn’t as down on Altuve’s glovework during that three-year period but does agree he’s been a negative since 2023, including a particularly rough -8 mark in 2024.
That’s problematic in and of itself, but it’s particularly egregious when Houston has one of the best second base defenders in the sport (statistically speaking) on its roster already. Mauricio Dubon hasn’t even logged a full season’s worth of second base innings in his career, but in 1154 frames at the position he’s been credited with 12 DRS and 8 OAA. The Astros also inked longtime Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers, another plus defender at second base, to a minor league deal and invited him to camp.
At the very least, when ground-ball pitchers like Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown are starting games — Valdez is the top ground-ball starter in the sport over the past three seasons — it makes sense to have a superior defender in there. Either Dubon or Rodgers would fit the bill. Espada’s comments make it sound like Altuve is being pushed to left field more frequently than that, however.
Houston’s decidedly lackluster outfield mix is surely a factor as well. Owner Jim Crane seemed determined to dip under the luxury tax threshold after paying the tax in 2024, and as a result the outfield looks thinner than at any point in recent memory. The Astros traded their final season of control over Kyle Tucker to the Cubs in a deal netting new third baseman Isaac Paredes, rotation candidate Hayden Wesneski and new top prospect Cam Smith. With Tucker gone and Alvarez ticketed for more DH time in ’25, Altuve joins a mix of Jake Meyers, Chas McCormick and free agent signee Ben Gamel in the outfield. There are still a handful of interesting free agents out there — David Peralta or Alex Verdugo could fit the ’Stros — but Crane’s preference is to remain south of the $241MM tax threshold; the Astros are currently at $236.8MM, per RosterResource.
If Altuve’s outfield move yields early dividends, it’s easy enough to see it becoming a permanent arrangement. The nine-time All-Star is entering the first season of a five-year, $125MM extension signed 13 months ago. He’s owed $30MM each year from 2025-27 before his salary greatly reduces to $10MM per season in 2028-29. That extension also came with a $15MM upfront signing bonus that has already been paid out.
As bad as his defense has been at the keystone, it can only be an improvement for the Astros. The major question is will Dubon’s defense be enough to make up for his complete lack of a bat? Or does this signal a renewal of their pursuit of Arenado?
always great to see established stars willing to change positions for the good of the team
*cough cough devers cough cough
Will the buzzer on his shoulder help him play better defense?
No, but the chip on yours might be incentive enough.
It is hard to believe that some people refer to that, when it was nothing more than a brain fart by a YouTube guy, who has since said he invented the whole thing.
It also sets them up that if Cam Smith destroys AA and AAA this year that he can get some reps in LF as well as 3B in September.
Altuve is the consummate teammate. Hats off to him that their our still guys like him around. Worry some about his arm strength but left field is not a lot of ground to cover in Houston. Arenado could still be a good addition. Crane is not cheap. He understandably doesn’t like long term contracts with aging ballplayers.
Yep. It is a shame he is the poster boy for the sign stealing stuff when he never took part in it. Dude is the ultimate teammate (never threw his teammates or other players in the league under the bus)
The entire organization, coaches and players, was in on it.
And especially the owner.
Rodgers would play solid defense and would allow the Astros to keep deploying Dubon as a super sub. Offensively dropping him down to the bottom of the order might help too
Poor little guy is gonna need a cutoff man to make the throw to the cutoff man.
Poor little guy won’t need a cutoff when he’s a first ballot Hall of Famer.
I’d hope the voters would be smarter than that… be a real shame to have a cheater like him in the Hall.
Below average sprint speed, one of the weakest arms in the game, one of the worst fielders in MLB at any position in 2024,. this doesn’t seem particularly promising, particularly with Altuve having declined to a 3 bWAR player in 2023-2024.
It’ll be interesting, but with Alvarez far better suited to DH than playing the field, what else was Houston suppose to do, other than not signing Altuve to 5/125m, that is, when they had already extended Alvarez for four of the five years of that deal nearly two years prior.
Hard not to extend a player coming off a 161 then a 151 OPS+ in 2022 and 2023 even if he only played 90 games in the latter season and even if he’d be 35 through 39 years old during the 5/125m extension. Though… maybe not.
Having two expensive DHs on your roster, one of whom you’re signing until he’s almost 40 should have been a warning. I’m not optimistic that this is going to work particularly well. Altuve has all the ingredients of a minus 15 fielder in Left in 2025. Not just bad, but fundamentally unplayable—and with four years to go on his deal.
Then what?
Out of all the second basemen I’ve seen (I’m 39) I’d probably rank him #1.
Better than Cano, or are you discounting Robbie because of the PED suspension? Not snark, I’m truly curious, especially due to your username, because Cano was super smooth at the keystone and amazing offensively, even if he was a showboat.
Jeff Kent here, but I admit I’m biased