Houston Astros

A Houston Astros legend can sleep happy tonight after finally being announced as a part of the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Class, in his final year on the ballot. Announced on an MLB Network broadcast on Tuesday night, former Astros closer Billy Wagner has finally officially been elected to the Hall and is headed to Cooperstown. Wagner has has seen a steady increase in ballot share over the last few years, finally getting the call this season.

This MLB offseason has featured some major changes for the Houston Astros, who moved on from several players who have been key contributors to their recent dynasty. Star third baseman Alex Bregman is expected to follow him out the door, as he remains available in free agency. Based on moves the team made this offseason, they seem to have accepted that harsh reality early on.

The Houston Astros have been in need of outfield help all offseason, and they could be looking at adding an All-Star in free agency to address it. In an appearance on MLB network earlier this morning, insider Mark Feinsand reported that the Astros and Toronto Blue Jays have shown interest in outfielder/utility man Jurickson Profar. Profar has been around the league for a while now, Houston fans may remember him most for his lackluster time with the rival Texas Rangers, but he broke out this past season with the San Diego Padres.

MLB Pipeline continued to roll out its top 10 prospect rankings for each position, and the most recent rankings came in the form of third basemen. On that list are two current Houston Astros prospects — Cam Smith who is ranked third, and Zach Dezenzo, who is ranked ninth. The only two prospects ahead of Smith are Coby Mayo of the Baltimore Orioles, and Matt Shaw of the Chicago Cubs. Smith was a recent addition to the Astros farm system as one of the key components of the Kyle Tucker trade in December.

The Houston Astros entered the offseason with several needs on their roster after being eliminated in the Wild Card round by the Detroit Tigers, snapping their seven-year streak of advancing to the ALCS. One of those holes was at first base, which the team looks to have successfully addressed by signing veteran free agent Christian Walker, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks. There are certainly some concerns with the addition, as their last veteran first baseman was Jose Abreu, whose production fell off a cliff after joining the team. At the very least, Walker will provide elite defense at first base since he has won the Gold Glove Award for three years in a row.

With the Houston Astros seemingly still trying to figure out how they are going to operate in the outfield, they have already decided Yordan Alvarez will get less playing time in left. The star slugger pushed to play in the field more after he recovered from his knee operations. Whether this was a factor in him spraining his knee at the end of the year or not, the Astros want to use him as the primary designated hitter during the upcoming campaign. Since Chas McCormick has already been tapped to replace Kyle Tucker in right field, who mans left becomes the biggest question for Houston heading into the spring.

There is no question the Houston Astros have taken a massive step back from the dominance the world has grown accustomed to seeing from them for the better part of the last decade. With Kyle Tucker now donning blue pinstripes, and Isaac Paredes preparing to be an everyday starter, 2025 is gearing up to be a long season for the Astros. Many are aware of the slog that is to come in 2025, and former MLB GM Jim Bowden spoke about it recently.

Young Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña hasn't yet become the superstar he showed flashes of as a rookie, but is he among the worst players in all of baseball? MLB data account BrooksGate put together a list of the bottom-30 players from last season when ranked by Win Probability Added (or in their case, subtracted). Peña is within the bottom 20 with a -2.20 WPA. For context, he finished with the same number as Washington Nationals maligned pitcher Patrick Corbin.

Chicago had submitted a $15 million figure and the All-Star outfielder had asked for $17.5 million.

Left-hander Caleb Ferguson and the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract. The 28-year-old is 19-13 with five saves and a 3.68 ERA in 263 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Ferguson split time between the Yankees and Astros last season, going 1-4 with a 4.64 ERA.

The 28-year-old had surgery on May 19, 2023, and made a pair of minor league appearances last year but was slow to bounce back.

The San Francisco Giants were looking for one additional pitcher to complete their rotation. They tried hard to get Corbin

The three-time Cy Young winner will turn 42 in February.

Texas is the fifth team for the left-handed hitter since he spent his first seven big league seasons with the Dodgers.

The New York Yankees have checked in on infield free agent Jorge Polanco, according to Mark W. Sanchez of the

It's been a wild winter so far, and several big names are still available in MLB free agency.