Astros Ace Framber Valdez No Longer Being Pursued by One Team After Cross-Up Incident

It sounds like the cross-up between Framber Valdez and Cesar Salazar has caused at least one team to cross the Houston Astros list off their list of free agent targets.

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Framber Valdez returned to the mound for the Houston Astros on Sunday five days after the cross-up incident that took place between him and backup catcher Cesar Salazar made waves across the baseball world.

The left-hander was credited with the loss against the Texas Rangers after he was tagged for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI double from Josh Jung and a two-run homer from Jake Burger.

Valdez's ERA following the All-Star break now sits at 4.88 across nine starts. His ERA in the month of September is 6.75, as the trend of getting worse as the season has progressed continues to rear its ugly head.

Normally, the conversation would be centered on how that affects the Astros. They need their ace to be at the top of his game if they are going to compete for and win a World Series, let alone hold onto their lead in the AL West standings.

But because Valdez is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, a lot of the attention surrounding his struggles has been on how this will affect the amount of money he could receive this winter.

Cross-Up Incident Might Cost Framber Valdez Millions of Dollars

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His newfound struggles on the mound aren't the only thing being considered now, though. Following the strange cross-up that took place -- whether it was intentional like many people believe or accidental like Valdez has stated -- it sounds like there are teams out there who have soured on Valdez.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, what took place on Sept. 2 "could cost Valdez millions in free agency" based on how he's now being viewed around the league.

"One scout said their organization already crossed Valdez off their list of free agent candidates after the incident," the insider reported.

There’s speculation that Astros pitcher Framber Valdez purposely crossed up his catcher Cesar Salazar and hit him with this pitch after Salazar told him to step off before allowing a grand slam pic.twitter.com/ds3c9MzQV6

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 3, 2025

How this ultimately affects Valdez will be interesting to see when that time comes. He is adamant that he did not hit Salazar on purpose, but it sounds like at least one team isn't buying it and views that situation as a non-starter when it comes to handing him a massive deal.

That wasn't the only headlining thing the veteran has done this season, either. Valdez publicly criticized his coaching staff after one of his outings earlier in the year for how the defense was aligned, which could be another factor that comes into play.

There's no doubting the talent Valdez possesses. He has a career 3.32 ERA across 185 outings (163 starts) with two All-Star selections to his name, four top 15 AL Cy Young finishes -- with one being a top five finish -- and a solid postseason track record that resulted in a World Series championship in 2022.

But teams want to make sure they are signing "the right guy" whenever they make a huge financial commitment to someone, and what took place during that cross-up incident could come back to haunt him financially.