Four Worst Astros Moves That Led to Missing Playoffs in 2025

The Houston Astros made some moves that didn’t work out during the 2025 season, but here are the four worst.

Houston Astros hat and glove in the dugout during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season. Some of that was just other teams playing better. Some of that was due to the Astros.

In assessing the moves they made during the last 12 months, some of the decisions the Astros made clearly didn’t work. Those moves include decisions they made about injuries to players, along with personnel moves.

One might be tempted to put first baseman Christian Walker on the list after a three-year, $60 million deal. But he finished with a .238/.297/.421 slash, along with 27 home runs and 88 RBI. That made him look like a world-beater in contrast to Jose Abreu. There were much worse moves the Astros made in 2025.

Here are the five worst.

Signing Brendan Rodgers

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The Astros signed Rodgers in February as back-fill as they moved Jose Altuve to left field. The former Gold Glove infielder did little in 43 games, with a slash of .191/.266/.278 with two home runs and 11 RBI. He missed more than three months with a left oblique injury. The only thing that could have made this worse was Houston signing him to a Major League deal as opposed to a minor-league deal. It never paid off for either side.

Luis Guillorme could slot here, but Houston was expecting more from Rodgers.

Yordan Alvarez’s Injury Drama

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When Yordan Alvarez went on the injured list with right hand inflammation in May, the belief was that he would be back after a few weeks. He wasn’t. In fact, after he had a setback during batting practice new imaging revealed a fracture in the hand and he missed another two months.

That led to an expansive piece in The Athletic (subscription required) about the Astros’ history of diagnosing injuries, citing Kyle Tucker’s injury from 2024 which was described as a shin contusion for months before it was eventually revealed as a fracture.

This quote from Alvarez was telling.

“It doesn’t surprise me that it was fractured,” Alvarez said. “I knew there was something there on my first MRI with the muscle strain, but that’s what I was dealing with. Time passed, and it was supposed to get better, but it wasn’t like that. I knew I couldn’t go out there and support three or four games out there.”

What it ultimately led to was Alvarez spending more time on the IL than was necessary, which is on the Astros. It likely cost them a playoff berth.

Trading for Jesús Sánchez

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The move may work out in the long-term for the Astros, as he has another year of team control left. Houston needed some outfield help at the deadline as rookie Cam Smith’s bat took a downturn. Sánchez was a viable option. With Miami he slashed .256/.320/.420 in 86 games with 10 home runs and 36 RBI.

In Houston, his number plummeted. In 48 games he slashed .199/.269/.342 with four home runs and 12 RBI. He became an anchor on the offense and, after Smith’s bat wouldn’t respond late, right field became a black hole offensively in the season’s final month.

Not Acquiring Starting Pitching at Deadline

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The Astros addressed their offense with Carlos Correa, Sánchez, and Ramon Urias. The Astors were banking on reinforcements that didn’t bolster their rotation as hoped.

Luis Garcia returned from a two-year Tommy John rehab only to injure the throwing elbow again and will require another surgery. Lance McCullers Jr. was on the IL well into August with an injury and when he returned, he lost his spot in the rotation. In the bullpen, he struggled at times. Cristian Javier did return to the rotation, but the staff lost Brandon Walter and Bennett Sousa. McCullers and Spencer Arrighetti went back on the IL in September. Plus, the Astros lost closer Josh Hader for the final six weeks.

Houston had hoped its injured depth would help them. But by not bolstering the staff, it was a miscalculation that cost them a playoff spot.