He Houston Astros They head into the offseason as a team with a lot of question marks after their first postseason exit in a long time, falling to the Detroit Tigers in the Wild Card and ending a streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances.

For all the questions surrounding the roster and how the organization will decide to proceed, none of them can be answered until the free agency decision is made for one of their superstars. Third fundamental base of the franchise Alex Bregman is set to hit the open market as his five-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2019 comes to an end and potentially the end of the most successful streak in franchise history.

Fans and teammates have been clamoring for Bregman’s return, which of course would require great financial need. There is a strong argument to keep the star after everything he has done for the franchise and no severe signs of slowdown.

However, if ownership actually shells out the money needed to retain him, it will likely limit them elsewhere.

While many have ruled out the possibility of Houston solving its first base problems through one of the gems of free agency like Christian Walker or Pete Alonso, Drew Koch from Climbing Tal Hill He says to forget it if Bregman comes back.

“Several Astros fans have dreamed of a scenario in which a player like Pete Alonso or Christian Walker signs with Houston,” Koch wrote. “But if the Astros re-sign Bregman this offseason, you can stop thinking.”

Koch went on to point out the fact that Houston already has a disastrous contract on the books at first base after the team had to cut bait with Jose Abreu and is still on the books for nearly $20 million in 2025. Referring to a report from MLB.com’s Brian McTaggartKoch said if Bregman returns, the team will continue at first base. platoon with Jon Singleton and Victor Caratini, a group that certainly wasn’t horrible in 2024.

Everyone would like to be able to sign all the stars, but it’s unrealistic to expect Houston to shell out multiple nine-figure deals within the same free agency cycle.