Astros predicted as fit for $260 million superstar, per insider | Sporting News

The Houston Astros have to decide whether or not they want to keep a franchise legend around for the foreseeable future.

Star third baseman Alex Bregman is a free agent and, unsurprisingly, wants to cash in with one more mega deal. He’s 30 years old and one of the best offensive players available on the open market. 

The Astros surely would love to keep him, but will the price tag get too high? It’s unclear at this point and there likely won’t be much movement in his market until Juan Soto picks his next team because losers of the sweepstakes could turn their attention to Bregman.

Even if Bregman re-signs, the Astros have question marks in the infield. The Astros need to fill first base as well this offseason. So it either will be in the market for two corner infielders or at least one.

One player who was mentioned as a possibility is St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman said he expects Arenado to get traded and rattled off a handful of potential landing spots and predicted that the Astros could be one. 

“Arenado does appear at this point like he’s not going to stay in St. Louis,” Heyman said. “There’s been too much chatter at this point to bring him back. I expect that he will get dealt somewhere and I’m going to say the (New York Yankees), (New York Mets), (Boston Red Sox), maybe (Toronto Blue Jays), maybe (Seattle Mariners), (Houston Astros), (Detroit Tigers), (Los Angeles Angels) and (Los Angeles Dodgers).”

Houston could make sense no matter what Bregman does. If he leaves, clearly Arenado could take over third base if acquired through a trade. Plus, he’s signed for three more years at a lower rate than Bregman likely will get. 

As trade rumors have picked up involving Arenado, there also has been chatter that he may be open to moving to first base. So even if Bregman does return, maybe Arenado could be a fun fit at first?

It’s interesting that Heyman brought the Astros up as an option and a deal could be nice.

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