8 Astros Have Signed Nine-Figure Deals Since 2019, but Only Two Have Been to Stay

The Houston Astros had a ridiculous amount of talent in the late 2010s, and since then, many of those core players have left on massive contracts.

Sep 9, 2018; Boston, MA, USA; Houston Astros center fielder George Springer (4) speaks with Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (1) and Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) before their game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. | Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have been one of the premier franchises in baseball for the vast majority of the 2010s and early 2020s, and one of the biggest struggles for these competitive teams is retaining talent on new contracts.

That has been especially prevalent with the Astros, though, and it has led to them being forced into a bit of a retooling phase here for the last year or so.

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Looking back at their late 2010s rosters, it is abundantly clear how impressive their scouting department truly is, and what a good job they did maximizing the timeline to keep as many of these players together as long as they did.

An eye-watering note was brought up on social media by Adam Spolane, and it provides even further clarity on just how astounding this core of players was. He recently put out a post showing the number of former Houston players who have signed nine-figure deals since 2019, and the true number of them is both fascinating and somewhat bittersweet.

Which Former Astros Have Signed Nine-Figure Deals Since 2019?

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

As was initially noted by Spolane, eight different former Astros players have signed contracts of nine figures since 2019. Of those eight, only two were retained on those massive contracts, those being Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez. The other six are Kyle Tucker, Gerrit Cole, George Springer, Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa and Justin Verlander.

Former Astros who have signed nine-figure contracts in free agency since 2019
Gerrit Cole
George Springer
Carlos Correa
Justin Verlander
Alex Bregman
Kyle Tucker

Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez signed nine figure deals to stay

Just an absurd amount of talent

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) January 16, 2026

The total value of these nine contracts, presuming they all played out fully, is $1,535,666,666, factoring in the Justin Verlander 2025 vesting option for the New York Mets that did not end up being utilized, and Alex Bregman's full Boston Red Sox contract.

The largest total value deal of the bunch is Gerrit Cole's $324 million deal with the New York Yankees, while the highest AAV is obviously Kyle Tucker's deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers at $60 million per year.

While only two of these players ended up being retained on their initial contracts by Houston, a third does currently reside on the team, with Carlos Correa returning via trade recently. It is quite impressive that the Astros have managed to keep around three of the eight, given how large some of these contracts ended up being, but the three they have are at least some of the more reasonable ones in terms of AAV.

While it does put them in a bit of a bind contractually to have three nine-figure deals like this, retaining Altuve and Alvarez was a good choice, and bringing back Correa could pan out well if he bumps his production up again, as he did early on following the trade.

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