The Houston Astros have been fortunate to have Framber Valdez in the starting rotation since 2018.
Valdez has proven to be one of the top overall left-handed pitchers in baseball. Unfortunately for the Astros, it’s unclear if he will be back in Houston in 2026. The veteran lefty is heading to free agency and is expected to cash in. CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson shared projections for contracts for the top guys heading to free agency and projected Valdez to get a seven-year, $189 million deal.
“No. 4 LHP Framber Valdez,” Anderson said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Valdez’s camp will push for a contract similar to the agreement Max Fried reached with the Yankees: eight years, $218 million. I don’t know if Valdez will succeed in getting that term — Fried’s is the second longest given to a pure pitcher since 2020 (Yoshinobu Yamamoto leads the way at 10 years and he was a special case) — but I do think he’ll land a similar per annum when it’s all said and done. Prediction: Seven years, $189 million ($27 million AAV).”
Spotrac is currently projecting Valdez’s market value to be $199 million deal across six years. With Valdez having a career 3.36 ERA and being the top overall starter on the market, he should have a great winter, but that may not be good for Houston.
At this point, these are just projections, but do show that the current expectation around the baseball world is that Valdez is going to land a very lucrative deal. It would be somewhat surprising to see Houston go after a price like that.
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