The Houston Astros entered the Winter Meetings with a lot of things on their plate this offseason.
Coming in, the Astros knew they were going to have some tough calls to make regarding their roster. First, they had a couple of key free agents, led by third baseman Alex Bregman.
By all accounts, bringing him back is a priority, but his price tag is going to be significant.
Houston needs to not only be mindful about spending big this winter, but what next offseason could look like as well.
Next winter, both Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez are set to become free agents, and as two players who will likely be some of the best available on the open market, that could potentially cost $400-plus million if the Astros want to keep both of their stars.
Buster Olney of ESPN recently spoke about the Juan Soto contract potentially helping set up Tucker for a megadeal next offseason.
"In the aftermath of Juan Soto's massive contract, I'm hearing some evaluators talking about the huge payday ahead for Kyle Tucker, who will be a free agent next offseason. Since the start of 2019: an adjusted OPS+ of 142, .882 OPS, 125 homers, 93 steals in 105 attempts, a Gold Glove Award. He'll be 29 at the outset of the 2026 season."
Tucker will certainly benefit from the deal that Soto just received from the New York Mets, as he has been excellent and arguably the best all-around player on the Astros.
Even though he missed nearly half the season in 2024, it was shaping up to be a career-year for the slugger.
In 78 games, he totaled 23 home runs, 49 RBIs, and batted .289. Prior to 2024, he was able to record a WAR of over 5.0 for three straight years. While he didn't get off to as quick of a start to his career as Soto, he has similar WAR numbers to the superstar of late.
Tucker will be hitting free agency at 30 years old compared to Soto at just 26 years old which could affect things in terms of contract length, however, based on Tucker's production, he very well could be looking at a deal well over $30 million per season for 7-8 years.