Altuve urges Astros: Time to pay Bregman back

• Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff WriterOct 2, 2024, 08:32 PM ET

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  ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.

HOUSTON — Jose Altuve hugged Alex Bregman in the aftermath of the Houston Astros‘ sudden elimination Wednesday afternoon and assured his longtime teammate, a pending free agent, “You’re coming back.”

“Now,” Altuve said, “it’s time to make it happen.”

For nine years, Bregman has been a stalwart for the Astros, arguably their biggest on-field producer and undoubtedly the most integral part of their winning culture. Altuve hopes Game 2 of their wild-card series — a 5-2, season-ending loss to the upstart Detroit Tigers — isn’t his last in an Astros uniform.

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“We’re not going to be the same organization without him,” Altuve said. “In my mind, there’s not a chance this is the last one.”

The 2024 season saw the Astros overcome a 7-19 start to make the playoffs, becoming the first expansion-era team to do so, but their run of seven consecutive appearances in the American League Championship Series came to a swift end after two wild-card games that saw their offense go a combined 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

“I haven’t really had a chance to process this,” Bregman said of his lingering free agency. “I was planning on being here tomorrow.”

He took to X after the game, posting simply, “Thank you Houston.”

Bregman, 30, is a two-time All-Star who has posted 38.3 FanGraphs wins above replacement since his first full season in 2017, second most among major league third basemen. Just as important, he has been a central figure to what has become a dynastic run in Houston. In a conversation with ESPN earlier this week, Astros general manager Dana Brown sounded optimistic that it would continue.

“I think it’ll work out,” Brown said. “When you get down to it, I think he wants to stay here. I think we want him to stay here. And it’s just a matter of coming up with some type of an agreement.”

The six-year, $151 million extension Matt Chapman recently signed with the San Francisco Giants is seen as a floor for Bregman’s new contract. Chapman, like Bregman, is represented by superagent Scott Boras, who often implores his clients to maximize their value on the open market, a circumstance that could complicate matters for the Jim Crane-led Astros. Under Crane, the Astros have eschewed free agent prices and let key players go in recent years, most notably Carlos Correa and George Springer.

Altuve, also a Boras client, was a notable exception, signing a five-year, $125 million extension in February.

He’s hoping Bregman is another.

“He gave a lot to this organization,” Altuve said. “Now it’s time for us, as a team, as an organization, to pay him back and make him stay here.”

Asked if he would speak personally to Crane about it, Altuve said, “For sure.”

The Astros have yet to present a formal offer to Bregman, but they are expected to in the near future. The end of the World Series triggers an exclusive, five-day negotiating window between teams and their players before the rest of the market opens. The Astros hope to get a sense for their chances to retain Bregman then.

“I think it’s very important,” Brown said, “and we’re going to try to make a run.”

Bregman made his mark on the Astros not just for his consistent production or his propensity to come through in big games, but for his influence in the clubhouse. The 2024 season provided a multitude of examples. Bregman encouraged Hunter Brown, who pitched 5⅔ innings of one-run ball on Wednesday, to throw his two-seamer, a pitch that changed the trajectory of his season. He implored Framber Valdez to go back to wearing his hair extensions in late June, after which he pitched like one of the sport’s best. And he continued to mentor an assortment of young players.

“Since the first day, I feel like Breggy kind of took me under his wing,” Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena said. “Whenever I need advice, he’s probably one of the first people I reach out to, and I feel like he’ll pick up every single time. Just a great teammate. I consider him a friend, as well.”

Bregman got off to one of the worst starts of his career this season, his slash line sitting at just .201/.270/.264 on May 12. But he made an adjustment with his hips and took off thereafter, posting an .845 OPS for the remainder of the regular season. Not surprisingly, the Astros surged in concert with his bat.

Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, who was left off the playoff roster and will soon face his own uncertain future in free agency, called Bregman “one of the most impressive baseball minds, competitors I’ve been around in this game.”

“At the beginning of the year, he was obviously not the hitter he wanted to be, but he shows up on defense every single play and shows up in the locker room here every single day ready to put in his work and also help those around him,” Verlander, 41, said. “Honestly, I can’t say enough great things about him.”

The Astros gave Bregman a nice sendoff during their regular-season home finale on Sept. 25. He was sent out to the field alone while one of his walk-up songs played through the Minute Maid Park speakers, then was subbed out and exited to a standing ovation. There was no such ovation Wednesday. Bregman grounded out to the left side in the eighth inning, his team already trailing by three runs, and jogged back into the dugout solemnly. After the Tigers recorded the final out, he stood along the railing to briefly watch them celebrate, then made his way back into the clubhouse.

Bregman then gathered his teammates to tell them how proud he was of the way they fought and the growth so many of them experienced over these past six months. He called this “one of the funnest seasons I’ve had.”

Uncertainty will follow it.

“I really haven’t even thought about this free agency stuff,” Bregman said. “I’ve just been focused on trying to help this team win ballgames. I just wanted to leave everything out on the field. Obviously, you never know what happens in the offseason, but I just wanted to compete as hard as I could for the guy next to me in the clubhouse.”

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