For a moment last week, things were looking grim for the Astros. They’d lost six out of eight games and had slipped out of the American League playoff picture for the first time in weeks, with the Mariners experiencing a surge in the West. But a run of five straight wins has vaulted Houston to the top of the division again, and hopes for an unmatched eighth straight playoff appearance remain intact.
Should the Astros get there, it will be by some measure of luck, however, and it can be pretty well assumed that no matter how the rest of the year plays out, Houston will need to make changes in the offseason. Keeping Alex Bregman will be priority No. 1, but the Astros will also need to add a power bat at first base, where the team finally gave up on the Jose Abreu experience earlier in the year.
And if there’s anyone who might just fit perfectly with this lineup, it could be a pending free-agent who is currently playing in New York: Pete Alonso. While the Mets would hope to keep Alonso, there will be stiff competition, and according to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Astros may be among those competitors.
As Heyman wrote in the New York Post: “The Astros, who have Alonso’s Tampa Plant High teammate Kyle Tucker, would fit, too.”
Astros 1Bs Have Been Huge Disappointments
There’s no doubt that the Astros need a banger at first base and the current occupant, Jon Singleton, is not going to cut it. For the season, the Astros have had the worst production of any team in MLB at first base, getting an OPS of just .609 from the position. Astros first basemen have hit just .209 on the year.
Back in May, when the Astros were trying to get Abreu going by sending him to the minors, even in the midst of an ill-advised three-year, $58.5 million contract, GM Dana Brown laid out how the team would approach the first-base spot.
“I would say right now, Singleton’s the first baseman,” Brown told Houston’s Sportstalk 790. “And when he comes back, we’ll get him in some games, we’ll see how it looks. If they both start to gel, we can work with the platoon. But ultimately, if you’re hot, you’re gonna play. If you’re cold, you’re probably gonna sit.”
The Astros have not had anyone get hot at first, though. Singleton is hitting .235 on the year with a .673 OPS.
Alonso, it is worth noting, has played only five game sin Minute Maid Park, but is batting .278 with an OPS of 1.030 in his career.
Pete Alonso Will Have Suitors
Could the Astros realistically get involved with Alonso though? Pulling him away from the Mets would be tough, but the Mets are said to have eyes on Yankees star free-agent Juan Soto, and if they prioritized a pursuit of Soto, the door could be open for the Astros to make a run at Alonso.
One other factor that could make Alonso more available is the fact that he has had only a so-so-year for the Mets, after having turned down a contract extension from the team last summer. He was an All-Star this year, but is batting .240 with 25 home runs and 63 RBIs, plus a .464 slugging percentage, which would be the lowest of his career.
He would be costly, however. The Astros have been willing to spend, but with Bregman on the to-do list, Alonso might be a bridge too far. Even with the down year, Alonso is projected to get an eight-year, $263 million contract by Spotrac.
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Astros Linked to Projected $263 Million Free-Agent Slugger