It’s been nearly a year since Dusty Baker stepped down as Houston Astros manager, but he’s still plugged in enough to have opinions about what his former team should do in free agency. Not surprisingly, his thoughts are in line with what most fans desire: Hold on to Alex Bregman.

The Astros third baseman, who has been a key part of the team’s current streak of eight straight trips to the postseason, will enter free agency for the first time after the World Series when his $100 million contract extension from 2019 expires.

“I hope they sign Bregman, because he’s one of the pillars on that team,” Baker said on Wednesday’s episode of The Show: A New York Post baseball podcast with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman. “He was one of the guys that I could depend on to send a message and I don’t have to tell him what message to send. This is what I love about Bregman.”

Baker also raved about Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez, who each can hit free agency next offseason. The 75-year-old, who is working on TBS’ studio show for the American League Championship Series, says Tucker “can do everything” and Valdez is “probably the best lefthander in baseball,” even ahead of the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal, because Valdez has been doing it for longer.

Tucker and Valdez figure to fetch big prices on the open market, but first the Astros must deal with Bregman. The bidding for the Gold Glove Award finalist likely will begin somewhere north of the six-year, $151 million extension the Giants gave third baseman Matt Chapman in September.  In Jim Crane’s tenure as Astros owner, the team has not given out a contract longer than six years or worth more than $151 million.

However, Baker said he wouldn’t rule out Crane in the negotiations.

“I do believe in Jim Crane because he’s not opposed to spending some money to stay on top,” Baker said. “He expects to stay on top. I don’t play golf, but if you talk to people that do play golf with him, he expects to win and he’s spoiled by winning and winning spoils you. I don’t see him sparing any expense to try to remain on top and get a good team.”

Although Baker worked on a series of one-year contracts after Crane hired him in 2020, the manager with the seventh-most wins in baseball history had nothing but good things to say about his former boss.

“I love Houston. I like the organization, I like Jim Crane, especially, because he’s one of the few people in the game that never told me a lie and I’m big on being honest with me,” Baker said.