Houston Astros free agency 2023-24: free players, targets, interests...
The Astros fell just short of the World Series this year, but have a stacked roster and will look to hang onto their edge in the off season.
The Houston Astros have been the team to beat for the last five seasons. And just because they fell short in 2023, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a roster that is capable of taking it all in 2024.
The biggest change that Houston must undergo is the search for a new manager following Dusty Baker’s retirement. He has left some incredibly large boots to fill and the Astros will want to go big when they search for his replacement.
The Astros will do good to look for a chief who has a similar style to Baker’s, instinctive, malleable, boots-on-the-ground, situational baseball.
Benji Gil is in the middle of negotiations with San Francisco, but Houston could sway him away from the west coast. He would be the kind of manager who could take up the mantle of Baker’s system and run with it.
Michael Brantley and Martín Maldonado are two players who are not strictly speaking “needed” by Houston, but whose expertise and leadership could be used to great effect. Both men are valuable far in excess of their on-field production, and both are free agents.
The biggest turnover in the organization is going to be in the bullpen, and while they could re-sign any of the relievers who are entering free agency - Phil Maton, Héctor Neris, and Ryne Stanek - there is also a wide array of talent available around the league.
Given the benefit of a deep rotation, it is possible that Houston will shift their focus to starting pitchers rather than fireballing relievers, opening their scope to retaining Justin Verlander, and acquiring players like Jordan Montgomery or Corbin Burnes.
They will most certainly be a big name in the pursuit of Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who will almost certainly be the hottest ticket this side of Shohei Ohtani in the off season.
If the Astros don’t mind leaning into their “evil empire” image around the league, they might even take a punt on bringing Trevor Bauer back into the fold.
This year is not as concerning as next, when José Altuve and Alex Bregman will both hit free agency, so it is possible that the Astros may want to lock one or both of them into an extension ahead of time.