The Houston Astros target is expected to receive $168 million in MLB free agency

If Yusei Kikuchi and Justin Verlander leave the Houston Astros, the front office will have to make some tough decisions about who to replace them with.

Luckily, this isn’t the old Verlander. So if they lose him in free agency, it wouldn’t hurt as much as it did a few offseasons ago. Still, it would be difficult to replace both players leaving the team and they would have to do so if they want to compete in the future.

The Astros will have the opportunity to add players this winter, and Major League Baseball is expected to do so.

Dana Brown indicated he was happy with his current rotation, but his comments were highly questionable.

For one thing, the pitching staff was plagued by injuries all year long. Considering some of them may be dealing with these injuries early in the 2025 season, it’s easy to see why they need to sign at least one pitcher.

This is where an arm like Max Fried could come into play.

Fried has been dominant throughout his career and finally appears to be healthy again despite his injuries.

With his health improving, Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter predicted he would sign a six-year, $168 million contract.

“There are some injury concerns surrounding Max Fried after he missed significant time in 2023 with a forearm strain, but while that injury limited him to just 14 starts this season, he was still one of the most productive starters in baseball last season .” Five years. Since the start of the 2020 season, when he turned in a breakthrough performance and finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting, he has gone 54-25 with a 2.81 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 624 strikeouts in 659 innings… The six – Carlos Rodón’s $162 million-a-year contract with the New York Yankees seems like a reasonable comparison given his similarly well-positioned position at the top of the team, and Fried could do so thanks to fewer injury red flags can still top it.

Given his injury history, Houston might be hesitant to give Fried that kind of money. However, this is the going rate if they want a top-tier starting pitcher.

After playing in just 14 games in 2023, he rebounded to post a 3.25 ERA in 29 starts in 2024. Over the last four years, the left-hander has had a 2.87 ERA.

Simply put, the Astros could seek his services for a number of reasons.