The Houston Astros 2026 season ended much the way it existed all season long: unfulfilled promise, frustration, some excitement that ended in disappointment. The unfulfilling season capped off with an unfulfilling ending.
So many issues that the Astros had to work through this season exposed their lack of major-league caliber depth. It unfortunately coincided with some older players losing their stare downs with Father Time.
So where do the Astros go from here (position player edition):
A) Make a decision
on Jeremy Pena.
This is the most important offseason decision the team has to make. Are they willing to pay Jeremy Pena and make him the next Astros lifer, following in the footsteps of Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell and Jose Altuve? If they aren’t, will they look to maximize his value the way they did Kyle Tucker, or will they let him walk for nothing as they did most recently with Alex Bregman and Framber Valdez?
Paying him a long term deal (which Astros owner Jim Crane has been loathe to do for anyone) comes with the risk of Pena experiencing a significant performance drop-off towards the end of the contract. Pena just completed his age-28 season, and has one more year of arbitration before he hits free agency.
If they were to write him an 8-year deal that included eating up his final year of arbitration, it would take him through his age-36 season. Jose Altuve just completed his age-36 season, and it was by far the worst season of his career. Altuve is also a franchise icon. Pena could be in the same vein when you consider his resume (All-Star, Gold Glove winner, ALCS MVP, World Series MVP, World Series champion, team leader) and his current importance to the team. Pena is a team leader, offensive catalyst, and their clear best defender at the position (despite his occasional mental lapses in this injury-marred season).
If they were to trade him, they could get a Kyle Tucker-esque return, which has proven to be a very strong return for the Astros. Paredes is a top-3 bat on the team with a tailor-made swing for Daikin Park, Cam Smith developed more power this season and is some pitch recognition from becoming an All-Star, and Hayden Wesneski has turned into a solid middle-of the-rotation pitcher. They may even be able to get more for Pena because he plays a premium position, has the postseason pedigree, the leadership pedigree, and his contract demands won’t be so absurd per year that only 3-5 teams can consider him.
The only thing they cannot do, especially with the team not being a World Series contender, is have him play out the season and walk away for nothing at the end of the year. That would be franchise malpractice.
B) Find a trade partner for Christian Walker.
Walker isn’t Jose Abreu. 29 HR and 87 RBI don’t grow on trees. He did post a 103 OPS+, so he was slightly above league average as a hitter, despite the low batting average (.226) and low OBP (.299). His defense was also still above average, as his 3 Outs Above Average (OAA) were tied for sixth-best in MLB.
But there are too many strikeouts, too many GIDPs, too many missed RBI opportunities. Finishing his age-35 season, it really looks nearly identical to his age-34 season that had many questioning if Father Time had called him with bad news.
The Astros have an infield log jam, and either Isaac Paredes or Carlos Correa are both superior options to Walker at 1B at this point, and both are more productive and on better contracts.
Walker’s comments regarding Astros fans after Game 1 of the AL Wild Card series against the Chicago White Sox didn’t win him any fans, either. I am a firm believer that once a player takes shots at the fans, it’s time for them to go. This is especially true with underperformers who have not had any major accomplishments in the team uniform.
C) Settle the positions of Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa.
Paredes has 1B experience, but has played more 3B. While he is not an elite defensive 3B by any metric (-3 OAA, tied for 31st), his defense has not been a real negative factor impacting games for the Astros in either of the past two seasons.
Correa is a superior defender at 3B, but his tendon injury must be accounted for. If the tendon injury limits Correa’s ability to play 3B, whether it’s lateral movement or ability to charge balls or throw on the run, moving Correa to 1B should be an option on the table.
Correa would be a big target at 1B (he’s 6’3”), his ability to snag short hops at 3B should translate to his ability to pick short hop throws at 1B, and his natural athleticism and high baseball IQ should translate to his learning a new position easily. While it would make sense to have the better defender at 3B, if Correa has a potential physical limitation, playing him at 1B would make more sense. Additionally, just as Correa wanted to move to 3B to make playing easier on his body, a move to 1B would take more burden off him physically. As demonstrated this season, the Astros really need Correa’s bat in the lineup.
D) The Astros have to change how they manage the DH spot.
Yordan Alvarez made just 24 starts in LF this season, his fewest in which he played a full season. He also maintained his reputation of hitting better when he plays the field. The presumed favorite for AL MVP this season hit .305 with a .422 OBP and .997 OPS as a DH. As a LF, he hit a ridiculous .376 with a .476 OBP and 1.239 OPS.
Essentially as a DH Yordan is an All-Star. As a LF, he’s Babe Ruth.
Jose Altuve has become nearly unplayable at 2B this season. He was an MLB-worst -10 OAA. His limited range was on display in the first inning of Game 2 of the AL Wild Card game vs. the White Sox when he was unable to get to a ground ball while diving that Nick Allen would have gotten to standing up. Father Time really came for Jose Altuve this season, and the franchise icon just couldn’t beat him back down.
Altuve made 127 starts at 2B this season, and only 7 at DH. While it’s a very small sample size, Altuve posted a .689 OPS as a 2B and a .922 OPS as a DH.
Those numbers on their own don’t say much, but when we add them to last season’s splits, the picture becomes clearer.
In 2025, Altuve played 63 games at 2B, and posted a .759 OPS. He played 45 games in LF, and post a .742 OPS. In 49 games as a DH, his OPS was .816. Altuve’s numbers are better when his body is fresher.
This should demonstrate that the Astros need to stop making Yordan a full-time DH, and have him share the spot with Altuve.
Altuve clearly needs more DH time, and hits better there. Alvarez, while a poor fielder due to limited range, brings a ton of offense and power to an OF that was incredibly weak at the plate in 2026. Also, it turns out, Alvarez is superhuman at the plate when he plays the field.
Alvarez has never played more than 56 games in LF, and now the Astros need to ask him to play about 75. They also need to ask Altuve to drop to about 75 games in the field. It’s a big ask of both players, but it seems like the best way to manage both of them going forward and maximize their success.
