At some point, the Houston Astros have to keep some of their top players around.
While the Astros are once again one of the top teams in Major League Baseball, it'd be tough to justify allowing Framber Valdez to walk. One could argue that he’s set to turn 32 years old, but the reality of the situation is that Valdez is still one of the better starters in Major League Baseball, and that's been evident throughout the year with his 2.97 ERA and 1.16 WHIP.
The left-hander also has 145 strikeouts in 145.2 innings and has been a workhorse throughout his career. Over the past four years, Valdez has thrown in at least 176.1 innings since 2021.
That should get him paid, which could put the Astros in a tough position. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the deal could come between $150 to $180 million.
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“Were it not for the fact that Valdez will turn 32 in November, he’d be the No. 2 free agent on this ranking and comfortably projected for a $200MM contract. As it stands, he’ll be angling to become just the fourth pitcher to secure even a five-year deal in free agency beginning with his age-32 season (Contract Tracker link).
“A four-year deal for Valdez would surely clock in well over $100MM, but he should be expected to land five years and will have a real chance to join Zack Greinke as the only 32-year-old starter in recent memory to reel in six years. A deal in the $150-180MM range shouldn’t be a surprise, even after he inevitably rejects a qualifying offer,” Steve Adams wrote.
A six-year deal for Valdez would take him to about his age 38 season, where he’d likely be deciding to hang them up sometime either right after that, or at the conclusion of the deal.
However, even with the expectation that his numbers would drop as he ages, there's reason to believe this deal makes sense for the Astros.