Houston Astros First Base Target and Former MVP Gets Just $15 Million in Prediction

The Houston Astros have been linked to multiple first basemen over the past couple of months, as the position hasn't been up to the standard the club needs it to be in order for them to win a World Series.

Fortunately for the Astros, there are options for them to pursue this winter.

The first order of business for Houston this winter should be figuring out what they're doing with Alex Bregman. Once that decision is clear with Bregman, it should give them a better outlook on the other areas they need to improve.

However, whether Bregman returns or not, there's an obvious problem at first base that the Astros eventually have to fix. With around three high-end first basemen on the market this winter, why not do that now?

Tim Britton of The Athletic believes so, too, naming them a fit for Paul Goldschmidt. Britton predicted his contract, which came in at $15 million for one season.

"For the first time in his career, Paul Goldschmidt was classified as a below-average hitter, after posting career-worst numbers across the board. Just two seasons removed from a 177 OPS+ MVP campaign, Goldschmidt had a 98 OPS+ over 154 games. At 37 years old, he can still hit the ball plenty hard, but his once-excellent strike-zone control has deteriorated, with his strikeout rate jumping and walk rate plummeting. That’s typically a very bad sign for a late-30s slugger, but the seven-time All-Star continued to feast on lefties and the Hall of Fame-caliber résumé should convince some contenders to pursue a bounce-back bet with a relatively modest one-year deal."

Signing Goldschmidt would be risky, as he's getting older and just had the worst campaign of his career. However, this wouldn't be the worst idea if Houston wants to be smart and try to save while spending elsewhere.

The former Most Valuable Player Award winner is in a difficult position to evaluate. On one hand, he's two years out from winning the most prestigious honor in Major League Baseball. On the other, he's only getting older and looked like a shell of himself in 2024.

This isn't a low-risk, high-reward situation, as they wouldn't have someone to play the position if he didn't produce. However, with the price tags of some of the other top first basemen on the market, this might be the best option for the Astros.

They'll have to bank heavily on him returning to what he used to be, and his long career suggests he might. If not, it'd be another rough signing at first base.