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Everyone has an opinion on the Framber Valdez situation.
Let's remember that the pitcher reached out to his catcher recently, when he was angry at the way the leadoff batter had been handled. His reaction, and that of his catcher, tells us all we need to know about the case.
Did Framber Valdez cross his catcher up on purpose? pic.twitter.com/Qzh03zydfn
– Jomboy (@Jomboy_) September 3, 2025
But what does this mean for the future?
Valdez, who will be a free agent in a few months, is the best pitcher who will be available on the autonomy market, if nothing changes. But will teams keep in mind his gesture against his own teammate?
That depends.
Jim Bowden, a former GM in the league, thinks that for a talented guy like him (who can finish in the top-10 of Cy Young voting every year), it doesn't make much difference. He's a hard-to-acquire type of pitcher, and if you can do it, you do it.
“You know how hard it is to get pitchers that finish top ten in Cy Young voting every single year?”@JimBowdenGM explains why he'd sign Framber Valdez for exactly what he would've before the cross-up incident. pic.twitter.com/QDOVawPtpQ
– Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) September 4, 2025
But does that mean the Astros will keep him?
Chandler Rome, who covers the Astros for The Athletic, broached the subject on the Foul Territory podcast. And according to him, even if the pitcher has a strange reputation and even if his “gesture” is the talk of the town, it won't be a factor.
The Astros likely won't bring Framber Valdez back, but it doesn't have much to do with the cross-up incident, says @Chandler_Rome.
“The Astros have never guaranteed a player more than $151 million, much less a pitcher.” pic.twitter.com/z6HX5bF8r2
– Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) September 4, 2025
However, he still expects to see the pitcher sign elsewhere.
Why? Because Jim Crane doesn't give long contracts to his players, and he's never given a pitcher more than $95M. And we're talking about Josh Hader, who is a reliever.
We imagine the Astros are willing to go into nine figures for Valdez, but it might not be enough and the club could be far behind other teams. Once on the market, anything can happen in the realm of overbidding.
Stay tuned this winter.
This content was created with the help of AI.
