Jose Altuve’s place in the Astros’ lineup is no longer the easy part of the offseason.
The hard question is what to do with a franchise icon who may no longer help you in the field. That’s where Houston finds itself now, balancing the value of keeping Altuve in the picture against the reality that the roster needs to work on the diamond, not just in the clubhouse.
Altuve’s contract gives the Astros some breathing room, but not much. He has three years left on the deal, though 2027 is the final season in which he’ll be paid like a superstar.
He’ll make $33 million next season, if baseball is being played, then $13 million in both 2028 and 2029. That structure matters because it keeps Houston from paying elite money for a player whose role may be changing fast.
The issue is the defensive side of the equation. Over the last five seasons, the numbers have been rough, and the last two have been especially ugly. According to defensive runs saved, outs above average and fielding run value, Altuve’s defense has been underwater, with the 2025 figures including left field stats.
DRS
OOA
FRV
2022
-15
1
4
2023
-13
-1
1
2024
-13
-8
-5
2025
-18*
-5*
-6*
2026
-17
-10
-9
- includes left field statistics
Those metrics don’t all tell the same story, and they don’t all grade players the same way. FWAR has generally been kinder to Altuve defensively than bWAR, since bWAR leans on defensive runs saved.
DRS uses video and human evaluation, while outs above average and fielding run value lean more on Statcast and computer tracking. The point, though, is simpler than the jargon: none of them have liked his defense lately.
Batting is the other half of the conversation, and it’s the part that makes this decision tricky instead of obvious. The question isn’t only whether Altuve can still hit.
It’s whether his bat changes when he’s not in the field. Career splits suggest it does not hurt him to leave second base behind.
Jose Altuve 2B
.302
.359
.464
Jose Altuve LF
.264
.323
.420
Jose Altuve DH
.272
.335
.441
Yordan Alvarez LF
.335
.423
.643
Yordan Alvarez DH
.286
.386
.551
Those are career numbers, and they come with the usual small-sample caveats, especially in the designated hitter role. But they still paint a clear picture: Altuve has been a better hitter as a DH than many would expect, and he has not needed the glove to carry the bat. Yordan Alvarez, by contrast, has been a monster in left field and merely excellent at DH by comparison.
That creates its own problem, of course. Alvarez is a negative defensive left fielder, and left field is already one of the least valuable spots on the field.
Still, defense there is not meaningless. There’s also the likelihood that regular time in the field could mean more games off for Alvarez.
The tradeoff is straightforward enough: would you rather have a .930 or .940 bat in the lineup more often, or a 1.050 hitter showing up less frequently?
Second base is the other complication. Houston already tried Brendan Rodgers there two years ago, and that did not work.
Nick “The Stick” Allen could handle the job more often, but he’s a career .600ish OPS hitter, and the .700-plus OPS he posted last season is hard to trust as a repeat performance. That leaves the Astros with internal options like Brice Matthews or Cavan Biggio, or a move through the trade or free-agent market.
None of that makes the situation pretty. If Altuve can still give Houston something close to the .750ish OPS he has put up as a DH, that would still make him an above league-average hitter. It is not superstar value, and it is nowhere near $33 million value, but it is also not nothing.
So the task becomes plain: squeeze the most from what remains. Keep the offense, reduce the damage elsewhere, and let the roster absorb the least harmful version of the player.
Altuve has always been the kind of teammate who puts the club first, and if Houston asks for the move, the logical next step is clear. It is time to make him the designated hitter.
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