The last premier MLB free agent came off the board earlier this week, with former Houston Astros star third baseman Alex Bregman signing a three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox.
With that transaction, second baseman and three-time batting champion All-Star Jose Altuve is now the last remaining position player from the infamous 2017 World Series champion Astros. (Revelations came to light in the 2019-20 offseason that Houston had an illegal sign-stealing scheme in place in 2017 to discern whether an opposing pitcher was throwing a breaking ball in their home ballpark.)
Furthermore, starting pitcher Lance McCullers — who hasn’t pitched since 2022 due to chronic elbow issues — is the last remaining pitcher from that team.
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Here’s how the rest of Houston’s positional core fared post-2017:
SS Carlos Correa
Correa, a now three-time All-Star, played four more seasons with the Astros and was part of two more American League pennant-winning teams (2019 and 2021). In his last season with the Astros (2021), Correa led MLB position players with a 7.2 WAR and posted a career-high 20 DRS at shortstop.
Correa signed with the Minnesota Twins after the MLB lockout in the 2021-22 offseason and then embarked on a historic offseason the ensuing year, which saw both a $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants and a $315 million deal with the New York Mets to play third base for the first time in his career get ripped up due to medical concerns over his ankle. Even more confounding, the Giants and Mets used the same doctor for the medical. In the end, Correa returned to the Twins on a six-year, $200 million deal, which is where he resides today.
OF George Springer
Springer continued to be one of the best all-around outfielders in the sport for the Astros through 2020, earning All-Star honors in 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, Springer is one of the best postseason players in franchise history, as he blasted a combined 19 long balls in 63 postseason appearances.
Springer inked a six-year, $150 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2020-21 offseason. In Toronto, Springer, a two-time Silver Slugger and four-time All Star, continued to wreak havoc from the right side and play the outfield (primarily center field from 2021-22 and right field ever since) at a plausible level. That said, Springer has been limited by injuries, missing extensive time in 2021 and 2022 and hitting a career-low .220 in 2024.
1B Yuli Gurriel
Gurriel was a late bloomer, making his MLB debut at 31, but still a vital piece to the Astros’ success. Coming into his own and emerging as their starting first baseman in 2017, Gurriel became one of the hardest hitters in the sport to strikeout. Furthermore, he totaled 31 home runs and 104 RBIs when the Astros won the AL pennant in 2019 and led the AL with a .319 batting average in 2021, when the Astros also won the AL pennant. Gurriel played for the Astros through 2022, followed by one-year stints with the Miami Marlins and Kansas City Royals. He’s currently a free agent.
OF Josh Reddick
Reddick was one of a handful of offseason pickups for the Astros in the 2016-17 offseason, inking a four-year, $52 million deal. The former Gold Glove outfielder’s best season at the plate with the Astros came in 2017, when he drove in 82 runs and hit .314. Reddick played out his contract with Houston from 2017-20, primarily serving as a stable force in right field. He last played in 2021 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
DH/C/OF Evan Gattis
Gattis spent the first two seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves (2013-14) and the final four with the Astros (2015-18); he raked from start to finish. Across his four seasons with the Astros, Gattis averaged 24 home runs, 73 RBIs and a .245/.298/471 slash line per season. He provided Houston with a bearded, no-batting-glove power plug from the right side, who got low in his stance and crushed baseballs.
Gattis hit the open market after the 2018 season, and never played again.
UT Marwin Gonzalez
Johnny Cash went everywhere, and Gonzalez played everywhere; Gonzalez started at all four infield positions and both corner outfield positions for the Astros from 2012-18. At the plate, Gonzalez peaked in his final two seasons with the Astros (2017-18), posting a career-best .907 OPS in 2017 and averaging 20 home runs, 79 RBIs and a .274/.349/.467 slash line per season. He spent the next two seasons with the Twins (2019-20), followed by a split 2021 season with the Red Sox and Astros and a one-year stint with the New York Yankees in 2022.
C Brian McCann
McCann, a six-time Silver Slugger and seven-time All-Star, gave Houston a veteran backstop and one of the best catchers of his generation in 2017, helping put them over the top. Logging 18 home runs and 62 RBIs and serving as their primary catcher in 2017, McCann was an effective veteran complement for the Astros’ offense and a sly veteran to engineer their pitching staff. McCann played two seasons with the Astros (2017-18) and then spent his final season with the Braves (2019), with whom the catcher spent the first nine seasons of his career.
OF/DH Carlos Beltran
Houston brought in Beltran on a one-year, $16 million deal to serve as a veteran mentor. While his role on the field diminished down the stretch, the two-time Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glover still totaled 14 home runs and 51 RBIs in what would be his final season as a player.
Beltran later became a special advisor to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman for two years (2018-19) before being hired as the manager of the Mets, with whom he played for six-plus seasons. Beltran was fired by the Mets roughly two months after being hired in the wake of reports detailing his role in Houston’s illegal sign-stealing scandal.
OF Jake Marisnick
Marisinick provided a quality outfielder who likely could’ve started every day on plenty of teams; he was just in a great Houston outfield rotation, so his playing time was scattered. The Astros acquired Marisnick, who posted a career-best .815 OPS in 2017, from the Marlins in 2014, and he played for them through 2019. He has since played for seven teams and last appeared in an MLB game in 2023.
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