Astros miss opportunity to sign ideal first base target before he even became available
Back to the drawing board for Houston.
To say that Houston Astros first basemen struggled would be an understatement. Astros first basemen ranked tied for 24th in the majors with an 87 WRC+ and 28th in the majors with -1.4 fWAR.
Jose Abreu was supposed to be the solution at the position in the second year of his three-year deal with the Astros, but he struggled so mightily to the point that he was released in mid-June. Eight other players saw time at first base over the course of the season, but nobody stuck.
With that in mind, upgrading the position in the offseason with an external addition would make the most sense for the Astros. Signing a player like Pete Alonso or Christian Walker would obviously be the most ideal scenario, but with the Astros still needing to re-sign Alex Bregman and with a substantial amount of money having to go to players like Framber Valdez and Kyle Tucker in the not-too-distant future, it isn’t as if the Astros have an insane amount of money at their disposal.
One first baseman in the tier below Alonso and Walker could’ve been Rhys Hoskins. The second year of his deal with the Milwaukee Brewers included a player option worth $18 million for him to decide on. Rather than hit the open market and see what he can get, Hoskins elected to exercise his option, locking him in as a Brewer for the 2025 campaign – removing an ideal Astros target in the process before they even had a chance to sign him.
