Houston’s offseason plan centers on preserving core stability while addressing two free-agent questions. Framber Valdez and Victor Caratini are the only consequential free agents from the current roster, with Valdez anchoring the rotation and Caratini handling catching. The rest of the star core—Altuve, Alvarez, Peña, and Brown among others—remains under team control for the near term, creating room to balance extensions, arbitration, and payroll without a full rebuild.

Beyond Valdez and Caratini, the horizon features a mix of arbitration-eligible depth and aging or longer-term contracts. Key decisions will revolve around how aggressively Houston retains or replaces pieces like Abreu, Dubón, Urías, and McCullers, while mapping out long-term commitments for a championship window that runs through the late 2020s and into 2030s via extensions and option structure.

Houston’s postseason hopes continue to fade after a 6-0 loss to Oakland in a bandbox park, their eighth shutout since Aug. 15. Five Astros hits and four runs allowed in a 33-pitch fifth frame doomed the night as Hunter Brown labored with four days’ rest and no run support. Oakland’s Langeliers and Soderstrom homered, and Rooker drove in two as the A’s seized the kind of pitching-and-durability win that tightens the wild-card race. Houston trails the final AL wild-card spot with four games left.

The Mariners clinched the AL West, sealing Houston’s fate in the division race, while Detroit’s tiebreaker advantage looms large in the wild-card picture. Peña sat again with a sore oblique, leaving Houston without its usual spark, and Sevino’s strong performance at home helped Oakland maintain control. Four games remain; every plate appearance matters now for both teams’ fantasy managers.