The Houston Astros are heading into a crucial offseason with a roster that needs real work, and the front office’s job starts with figuring out what kind of payroll room it actually has. That means sorting through the club’s guaranteed deals and, just as importantly, the 11 players who are arbitration eligible for the 2027 season.
MLB Trade Rumors has leaned on Matt Swart’s model for more than a decade to project those salaries, and Darragh McDonald recently ran through all 30 teams. For Houston, the list could help shape how the club attacks an offseason that has to be a lot better than the year it just lived through.
That year was rough from the start and ended even worse. The Astros reached the postseason with the worst record in playoff history, then got swept in the wild card round. It was the kind of finish that leaves a roster with more questions than answers.
One of the names that stands out is Bennett Sousa, and not for good reasons. A clip of back-to-back wild pitches from the Astros reliever showed one pitch leading to a run and the next wiping out a strikeout.
The broader concern is his performance, with a 7.00+ ERA over his last 15 starts. If Houston can’t find any trade value for him, a designation for assignment would not be a surprise.
Jeremy Pena is another player generating plenty of speculation. The idea of dealing the star shortstop has been floated, and the return would be huge. But moving him would also mean giving up a bat the Astros may not be able to replace, especially after he was one of five players in the year to reach at least 20 home runs, even while playing 40 fewer games than the other four.
Hunter Brown is the biggest name on the arbitration list. He went from Cy Young contender to no longer being Houston’s ace in 2026, a slide underscored by his inability to get out of the first inning in the team’s postseason elimination game. Because of that uneven year, he is projected to rise by only about $1 million from 2026 to 2027, a number that would have looked very different if he had stayed healthy and consistent.
Peter Lambert also looms large. He was the stabilizing force in the rotation, leading Houston’s starters in wins, strikeouts and WHIP while handling the workload as the staff’s workhorse. If his arbitration figure comes in close to the estimate, it would represent a major jump from the $1.5 million he made in 2026.
Houston’s offseason has to be aggressive if it wants to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment that arrived in 2026. At minimum, that means adding another starter and strengthening the bullpen.
In Other News...
Astros Trade Looks Different After What Pittsburgh Got Out Of It
The trade that sent Brandon Lowe, Mason Montgomery and Jake Mangum to Pittsburgh is starting to look a lot different now that the Pirates have had time to sort through what they got. Lowe brought the biggest name value, coming off a season with 35 home runs and better work in the field, while Montgomery quickly established himself as a late-inning weapon with 18 saves down the stretch. Mangum, meanwhile, filled in as useful center field depth when injuries piled up.
For Houston, the deal was always going to be judged in part by how the other side fit together, and Pittsburgh has clearly gotten production from all three pieces. Lowe is headed for free agency, which only adds another layer to how the move is viewed, but Montgomery is the real long-term piece here since he remains under team control through 2030. That gives the Pirates a different kind of value than a one-season rental, and it is the sort of return that can change the way a trade is remembered. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Face One Obvious Option Call And One Tougher Choice
With the Astros still operating without a general manager, one of the first offseason decisions on the table is straightforward enough: whether to pick up Isaac Paredes club option for 2027. After a strong 2026 season in which he hit 25 homers and batted .262, the third baseman looks like the kind of productive everyday piece Houston would prefer to keep in place, especially at a $13.4 million price point that sits well below what that kind of output usually costs on the market.
The tougher call comes with right-hander Ryan Weiss, whose $5 million option asks Houston to decide whether there is enough upside to justify more runway. Weiss struggled with a high ERA and WHIP at both the major league and minor league levels, which makes the choice less about certainty than about whether the Astros see a rebound worth investing in. For a club trying to sort out its next steps without a front office leader in place, the contrast between those two options says plenty about how much work still needs to be done. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Left Field Problem Looks Even Worse After One Former Move
The Astros left field search never really found an answer this season, and Dustin Harris ended up becoming another reminder of how unsettled that spot was. After brief stints with the White Sox and Houston, the outfielder resurfaced with San Diego and looked much more comfortable there, flashing better all-around play while giving the Padres another useful option in a crowded outfield mix.
What makes it sting for Houston is not just that Harris settled in elsewhere, but that his improvement came while the Astros continued to cycle through possibilities and never solidify the position. San Diego benefited from the depth, Houston did not, and the gap showed up in the standings as the Astros fell short of the playoffs with left field still lingering as one of the rosters biggest unresolved issues. [Read more 🡒]