Astros Hated Rival Emerging as Surprising Suitor for Free Agent Framber Valdez

The Houston Astros could be seeing their former ace stay in the American League.

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The Houston Astros entered the offseason with fans knowing change was ahead in whatever capacity that may be following the first missed postseason in close to a decade.

Names were going to be on the trading block, new faces were going to arrive whether it be via free agency or the trade market and free agents were going to be on their way out. Chief among them is longtime ace Framber Valdez, who the chances of bringing back to the Astros have been next to none since September.

Valdez has seen a relatively wild market, but like most of the top free agent stars, he still remains available nearly midway into January. When free agency plays out like this, teams who nobody expects can come out of the woodwork and land stars nobody expected them to.

This is exactly what Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report predicts in his recent article naming a dark horse fit for each of the top remaining free agents. For Valdez, he postulated that the Detroit Tigers could come out of the woodwork and land Houston's southpaw.

Bleacher Report Predicts Tigers as Fit for Astros Ace Framber Valdez

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"That price tag does limit his market to a point, but a shorter deal also opens things up to a potential dark-horse suitor, and the Tigers are an interesting team to watch for a variety of reasons," Reuter wrote.

"Not only are they viable playoff contenders with a relatively large gap between ace Tarik Skubal and No. 2 starter Jack Flaherty in terms of impact, but they could also be motivated to hedge their bets on potentially losing Skubal in free agency next winter.."

Of all the teams that could be potential suitors for Valdez, Detroit would be right up there with the worst-case scenarios for Houston to lose out to. The cross-up incident ended any chance of a reunion, that does not mean they want him on a playoff-contending American League team.

He has also been previously connected to the Baltimore Orioles which would sting as well, while a team like the New York Mets or San Francisco Giants would be optimal for general manager Dana Brown to see Valdez sign with.

Astros Likely Don't Have to Worry About Tigers and Valdez

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While Reuter brings up an interesting point about the deal Jack Flaherty signed with Detroit a year ago very late in free agency, Valdez is likely to command twice the money and potentially twice the years as well.

It would not be a shock to see the Tigers offer the left-hander a short-term deal with opt-outs; however, conventional wisdom would suggest them being outbid by the Mets or another team with a history of spending big.

As Houston navigates the rest of the offseason, they do so with the knowledge that Valdez is almost certain to be wearing another uniform next year. In an ideal world, though, that uniform comes out of the National League and very far away from an Astros team trying to get back to October.