The Houston Astros are heading into an offseason with more uncertainty at the top than on the field. Before they can sort out the rotation, patch the outfield or start thinking about the 2027 roster, they have to answer a bigger question: who is actually in charge of making those calls?
That starts with the general manager role, which remains open after Dana Brown was dismissed on August 24. Houston did not move quickly to name a replacement. Instead, owner Jim Crane split Brown’s duties among several assistant general managers and senior advisor Jeff Bagwell while continuing to oversee baseball operations himself.
The timing matters now more than it did during the season. The Astros finished 81-81 and then got swept out of the Wild Card Series by the Chicago White Sox, leaving the organization with a long list of issues to untangle. The club won the American League West despite the .500 record, and that marked an ugly bit of history: Houston became the first division champion in MLB history to finish without a winning record over a full 162-game season.
That collapse fits a larger trend. In 2022, the Astros won 106 games. Since then, the slide has been steady.
Manager Joe Espada is another major decision looming over everything. He is in his third season with Houston, his contract expires at the end of October, and he has already said he wants to return for 2027.
Crane, though, has made it clear that Espada’s future would be reviewed after the season. That moment has arrived, and there has been no public announcement one way or the other.
The order of operations could matter here, too. With the GM job still vacant, Houston has to decide whether Espada’s situation gets settled before or after the new front office leader is hired.
There are cases to be made both ways. Espada kept the team afloat through a season full of injuries and uneven play, and Houston did crawl back from a 20-31 start. But the postseason result is hard to ignore: the Astros didn’t win a playoff game again, making it three straight years without one.
Even with all of that, the roster still has pieces to work with. Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Jeremy Pena and Hunter Brown give the Astros a legitimate core.
But the questions around that group are not small. Houston still has to sort out Pena’s long-term future, Isaac Paredes’ contract option, a batch of arbitration-eligible players and possible upgrades to the rotation and outfield.
None of that gets solved cleanly until the organization decides what kind of team it wants to be. It can try to push forward with veterans and chase a quick run, or it can tilt toward youth, payroll flexibility and a reset. Either way, those choices need a leader behind them first.
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Peas name carrying into that kind of speculation is a reminder of how valuable he has become to the Astros, especially after a strong 2025 season. Any pursuit would figure to come at a steep price, and with Pea under team control through 2028, Houston has every reason to treat him as more than just another name in a winter rumor. [Read more 🡒]