Houston Astros career second baseman Jose Altuve is so eager for former teammate Alex Bregman to potentially return to the squad, the nine-time All-Star is willing to move to left field.
That is one scenario to accommodate Bregman, a free agent third baseman after nine seasons in Houston. The Astros are still open to re-signing him, but after failing to come to terms this offseason, the team has already traded for veteran third baseman Isaac Paredes, who has some major league experience at second base (67 games, 53 starts).
“For Alex, I’ll do whatever,” Altuve said Saturday at the Astros’ fan festival. “He’s one of the best players in the whole league and he’s definitely one of the best players on the team. We want him to stay so whatever I have to do for him to stay, I’m willing to do it.”
Altuve, 34, has spent his entire career with Houston since making his major league debut in July 2011 at age 21. A Gold Glove Award winner in 2015, Altuve is the active major league leader with 1,765 games at second base, including 1,749 starts. He has played in two games at shortstop for a total of six innings.
Still, the Astros have a bit of history on their side, having once moved Hall of Fame second baseman Craig Biggio to the outfield to make room for Jeff Kent.
Astros manager Joe Espada said Altuve is capable of playing outfield and has the mindset as a team player.
“He’s so athletic, and he can do some things on the baseball field that a lot of people can’t do,” Espada said. “If we get there, we’ll have that conversation with him. He wants to do whatever it takes to win. It’s important to us. I think he’s a cornerstone on this team. He’s the heart of the organization. He understands that, but when we get to that point, we’ll have that conversation with him.”
The Houston infield is set now with Altuve, shortstop Jeremy Pena, free-agent signing Christian Walker at first base and Paredes at third. The Astros traded All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker in December to get Paredes, and there’s more of a need at that position if Yordan Alvarez spends more time as the designated hitter.
Bregman, 30, had been teammates with Altuve since making his major league debut with Houston in July 2016 at age 22. A two-time All-Star, Bregman won his first Gold Glove in 2024 at third base.
He has 995 career games at third base (977 starts), 129 at shortstop, nine at second base and two in left field.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said Saturday that the team is still interested in re-signing Bregman, who didn’t accept a reported offer of six years and $156 million earlier this offseason. Brown said the door to bring him back is “cracked” open.
“The interesting thing is, when we made some trades and some moves this offseason, we never realized that Bregman would still be on the market at this time,” Brown said. “We’ve had some conversations and I could kind of leave it there, but we’ve had some conversations.”
If Bregman did return, Brown sees him playing third base.
“I love watching Bregman play third base, so I can’t imagine putting Bregman or having (Espada) put Bregman in any other position other than third base,” Brown said. “That’s his home. He puts on clinics when he’s playing third base, and he’s just as special as anybody, Gold Glove there, and so I can’t picture him playing anywhere else.”
Bregman batted .260 with 26 homers and 75 RBIs in 145 games in 2024. His .768 OPS was the lowest of his career.
Drafted No. 2 overall by Houston in 2015, Bregman is a career .272/.366/.483 hitter with 191 home runs and 663 RBIs in 1,111 games. He was an All-Star in 2018 and 2019 and won World Series rings in 2017 and 2022.
