The Houston Astros are heading into the offseason as a team with a lot of question marks following their earliest postseason exit in a very long time, falling to the Detroit Tigers in the Wild Card and bringing to an end a streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances.

For all the questions surrounding the roster and how the organization is going to choose to proceed, none of them can really be answered until the free agency decision for one of their superstars takes place. Franchise cornerstone third baseman Alex Bregman is set to hit the open market as his five-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2019 is coming to an end and potentially the end of the most successful run in franchise history.

Fans and teammates have been clamoring for Bregman’s return, which would of course require a large financial requirement. There’s a strong argument to be made to keep the star after all he has done for the franchise and no severe signs of slowing down.

If ownership does indeed shell out the money which will be required to keep him however, it will likely limit them in other places.

While many have thrown out the possibility of Houston solving their first base issues through one of the gems in free agency such as Christian Walker or Pete Alonso, Drew Koch of Climbing Tal’s Hill says to forget about it if Bregman returns.

“Several Astros fans have dreamed of a scenario where a player like Pete Alonso or Christian Walker signs with Houston,” Koch wrote. “But if the Astros re-sign Bregman this offseason, you can put those thoughts to bed.”

Koch went on to point out the fact that Houston already has a disastrous contract on the books at the first base position after the team had to cut bait with José Abreu and he is still on the books for nearly $20 million in 2025. Referring to a report from Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Koch said that if Bregman is brought back the team will continue the first base platoon with Jon Singleton and Victor Caratini, a group that was certainly not horrible in 2024.

Everyone would like to be able to sign every star, but it’s not realistic to expect Houston to shell out multiple nine-figure deals within the same free agency cycle.