The Houston Astros snuck into the playoffs with the worst record ever for a playoff team. They won the AL West Division in ugly fashion in a battle of underachieving teams.
They didn’t last long, though. The Chicago White Sox dispatched of them in a pair of games in the AL Wild Card Series.
The Astros were at home, but it didn’t matter. Chicago was simply better, which is what a season full of baseball had already proven, and it played out that way in the postseason, too.
Now comes the tough part for the Astros — clearly a talented team but one with plenty of work to do to improve for the 2027 season, whenever it happens to begin.
There are a lot of contract uncertainties, including with Daulton Varsho and Tatsuya Imai.
It’s Isaac Paredes’ contract that has a little bit of extra intrigue, though, so let’s break it down.
Isaac Paredes Contract
Paredes has his contract up at the end of the 2026 season after being paid $9.35 million this year.
There is an option built in for 2027, but it’s a bit complicated — it comes with a condition.
It’s what is called a conditional club option.
The condition is this — the 2027 option converts to a mutual option if Paredes finishes top-10 in MVP voting in 2026.
That won’t be happening, and so the condition goes away. It will just be a club option.
That means that Paredes has no control. It’s up to the Astros if they want him in 2027.
The amount he’d be due in 2027 is $13.35 million, which seems fair. Will the Astros agree? That’ll be one thing they have to decide this offseason.
Isaac Paredes Stats
Paredes remains one of the best pull-side power hitters in baseball.
This season, he slugged 25 regular season home runs in 155 games. He added 27 doubles and hit .262 with an .806 OPS.
Interestingly, Paredes doesn’t strike out much for a power hitter. He had 71 walks compared to just 88 strikeouts in his 659 plate appearances. That’s a great rate for a hitter of his ilk.
Paredes hit 20 homers in his first season with the Astros in 2025 when he only played 102 games due to injury time.
He has now played parts of seven seasons in MLB with the Astros, Cubs, Rays and Tigers. He has 117 career home runs in 721 games, and a career .775 OPS.
Paredes is still just 27 years old, so if he were to reach free agency, he’d likely get a strong contract from somewhere.
That’s why it sure seems like the Astros would keep him around at the $13.5 million rate, though. That’s almost certainly less than he would get on the open market.
The Astros could always decide they want a change, but strictly from a value perspective, keeping Paredes around would be sensible.
It’ll be up to Houston to build things up elsewhere, because Paredes is already a good player to have.
Astros Arrive at $13.35 Million Isaac Paredes Decision With Condition