Despite missing Yordan Alvarez for the majority of the season and enduring an almost comical number of injuries to their starting rotation, the Houston Astros still enter play on Tuesday atop their division and in the hunt for the AL's top seed at 45-33. Arguably the biggest reason why: shortstop Jeremy Peña, who's finally putting together the breakout season fans have been waiting for since he burst onto the scene in the 2022 postseason.
With Alvarez out and Kyle Tucker gone, Peña has emerged as Houston's best hitter. He's slashing .326/.380/.493, all of which would be career highs, and he's on pace to finish with more than 20 homers and 30 steals. All of that has come with his typically elite defense at short, which would make him a dark-horse candidate for AL MVP in a world where Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh didn't exist.
Houston entered the 2025 season at a crossroads, with Jose Altuve in decline, Tucker and Alex Bregman departing and Framber Valdez set to hit free agency this winter. This team needed someone to pick up the baton, to stamp himself as a star who could help carry the Astros into a new era of contention. Peña had done just that and then some ... that is, until Monday night, when Chandler Rome of The Athletic broke the news that he'd hired Scott Boras as his new agent.
And just like that, Astros fans went from dreaming about a new face of the franchise to preemptively dreading the next big name to price himself out of Houston.
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Astros' shot at locking up Jeremy Peña just went out the window thanks to Scott Boras
At this point, Boras' reputation likely needs no introduction. He's MLB's preeminent agent, the man who just negotiated a $765 million deal for Juan Soto last offseason. Boras is dedicated to getting every single cent he can for his clients; and if the Astros were hoping they might be able to sign Peña to a long-term extension before he reached free agency, that dream just went out the window.
Boras hardly ever lets players he represents sign a deal before testing the market. He knows that nothing gets a player paid like a bidding war, and signing extensions just cuts their earning potential at the knees. Granted, there are some exceptions to the rule: Jose Altuve is also a Boras client, and has negotiated not just one but two long-term deals with Houston without ever becoming a free agent. But for the most part, Boras has a very clear pattern of behavior.
We can see it playing out in real time right now, where Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal — Boras' next big potential payday — sure doesn't seem close to signing an extension with Detroit just a year and a half away from free agency. Altuve made clear that he only wanted to play for the Astros, but for the most part, a player doesn't sign on with Boras unless he wants to make as much money as possible (which, it should be stressed, is their right).
This isn't quite so immediate a problem for Houston; Peña just hit his first year of arbitration eligibility, and won't become a free agent until after the 2027 season. Even if he has no interest in considering an extension, the Astros won't have to cross that bridge until two years from now. But this team needs new foundational pieces to build around, and Peña and budding ace Hunter Brown were the two most likely candidates as they enjoy sensational starts to 2025.
Now, both of them are Boras clients; Brown himself brought Boras on after the 2024 season. Maybe Jim Crane will be willing to open up the check book again as money comes off the payroll moving forward. After all, the whole logic behind trading Tucker a year in advance of his free agency was to get some value in return will gaining future financial flexibility. But future flexibility is no guarantee, and just about every big hitter figures to be in on the bidding when both Peña and Brown hit the open market.
The Astros farm system has seen diminishing returns of late. They absolutely need their twin young pillars around for the long haul if they want to keep this era of contention rolling. But that just got a whole lot harder now.