Jose Altuve urges Astros to ‘pay back’ Alex Bregman with new contract.
Oct. 3 (UPI) — It appears that the Houston Astros organization might have reached the end of the road with Alex Bregman. However, fellow teammate and friend Jose Altuve is advising the team to “pay the third baseman back” through a contract extension.
“He gave a lot to this organization,” Altuve said at a post-game press conference after the Houston Astros were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers from the playoffs. “Now it’s time for us as a team, as an organization, to repay him back and make him stay here.”
Bregman, 30, was the number two overall draft pick of the Houston franchise in the 2015 MLB draft. Bregman played two seasons with the franchise before winning two championships with the team. He also finished in the Top 5 on two occasions in the American League MVP voting: second in 2019, a season he hit .296 but led the league in home runs and RBIs with a personal best 41 and 112, respectively.
In 2019, Bregman extended his contract with the Houston Astros to five years worth $100 million. He earned $30.5 million over the last two seasons.
In 2024, Bregman belted a .260 average – which is the second lowest he has ever recorded for a 162 game season – in 145 games. He also hit 26 round-trippers which was the third best in his career.
Altuve, who played alongside Bregman for his nine years in the major leagues denied reporters’ assertions that he “wanted to think about” Wednesday being the last game he would play with the third baseman.
“I’m pretty confident he is going to be our third baseman next year,” Altuve declared. “We have to. We aren’t going to be the same organization without him. At least that, in my mind, was not the last game played for me.”
Bregman, who tweeted “Thank you Houston” on Wednesday, noted that he “didn’t have a chance to process” what that means for his status with the team going forward. He replied, “I hope so,” when asked if he wanted to play for the team again.
“I consider myself very lucky because I have managed to win a lot of trophies here for these past nine years,” Bregman said. “Playing before these fans and representing this city has been a privilege.”
Bregman made his MLB debut comparable to midway through the 2016 season. He helped the Astros to the World Series Championship the next season. Bregman, Altuve and the Astros played every year in the American League Championship Series from 2017 up to 2023.
Some of the players from that era such as shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder George Springer have bothered franchises with their particular free agency offers over the past few years. Such All Stars were absent from the team and still the 2022 season showed the Astors come first in the World Series competition.
Bregman is the sixth all-time home run hitter (191 HRs) in the franchise’s history. He is also No.7 in 2B hit (265), No.8 in scored runs (694) and No.9 in total bases earned (2,006), RBIs made (663), created runs (757) and walks achieved (576).
He has the eighth best WAR (39.6 wins above replacement) among positions players in Astros history. His defensive WAR of 6.5 ranks him seventh in the team’s history.
“He’s a key part of the team,” Altuve stated about Bregman. “He contributed so much to this team. Now, it’s time for us and for the whole organization to repay him and keep him here.”
Altuve has also appeared in the Top 3 positions in franchise history for most of the categories including WAR among position players, batting average, at bats, plate appearances, runs, hits, total bases, stolen bases, and times on base.
The 34-year-old second baseman who won the MVP award in the past has renewed his contract with the Astros this February for five more years at the price of 125 million dollars making him one of the highest-paid players in that team. For the next three seasons, he will earn 32.5 million dollars-a-type for each of the three-year period. Upon completion of the three-year period, his salary will reduce yet again to $12.5 million and $10 million during the years 2028 and 2029 respectively.
