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.

NL ROY race tightens around Baldwin and Horton. Horton’s 2.67 ERA in 118 innings masks advanced-metric gaps, leaving voters wary; Baldwin’s NL rookie case is stronger, especially at catcher. A Baldwin win would yield Atlanta a late first-round pick and about $3 million in bonus money, a major franchise boost. Braves’ 10-game win streak snapped 4-3 vs Nationals adds urgency.

Other notes: Luis Garcia’s elbow surgery sidelines Astros for 2026; Ramon Laureano fractures a finger, missing Padres’ early playoffs; Nationals hire Paul Toboni as head of baseball operations; Cubs hope Kyle Tucker returns for the postseason; Guardians’ David Fry out 6-8 weeks after facial injury from Tarik Skubal.