Could There Be An Astros and Framber Reunion?

It’s only a motion away.

Could there be an Astros and Framber Valdez reunion? Maybe the odds are better than we previously thought?

Monday night on AREA 45 on Sportsradio 610, I posed the idea of the Astros getting back in on Framber Valdez with a short term, high AAV type deal with opt outs that would allow Framber to pitch in Houston this season, and go back on the market next year to search for his long-term deal without being attached to a Qualifying Offer.

Framber is the highest rated free agent still on the market, and the fact he has not signed yet is puzzling. Framber was easily the best pitcher on the market, and not only the best but most durable. Framber is baseball’s biggest ground ball machine and he eats innings. Framber pitched 192 innings in 2025, and has thrown 767.2 innings the past four seasons.

Five seasons ago was the last time Framber didn’t make at least 28 starts, and that was because of a fractured finger he suffered on a comebacker in Spring Training. He made 22 starts and pitched 134.2 innings.

For his career, Framber has a 3.36 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. His career groundball rate is 61.5%, and the MLB average is 42.4%. In an era of chasing the long ball, Valdez is the antidote.

Several teams have been linked to Valdez, but as the offseason has worn on, many have gone in different directions. There is now a question as to whether the long-term deal Valdez seeks will be available to him this season. Any team signing Valdez this season will also have draft pick forfeiture as a penalty for signing a free agent who rejected the Qualifying Offer. The combination of losing draft pick(s), losing international bonus pool money and paying out a long-term high value contract seems to have weakened teams’ desires to pay Valdez.

Enter the Astros.

Valdez clearly is familiar and comfortable in Houston. The Astros know Valdez’ temperament better than anyone, and know how to get the most from him.

For a team that may be offensively challenged (Houston has several ‘good hitters’ in it’s lineup but only one great hitter in Yordan Alvarez), having an elite rotation would catapult the Astros back into the World Series conversation. Framber is that kind of a difference maker.

A contract similar to the one Blake Snell signed in 2024, two years with a high AAV and an opt out, would make sense for all parties should the long term deal Valdez wants not be available.

Earlier today, Astros GM Dana Brown addressed the media and in his comments left the door open to a possible Framber reunion (Framber question in video at 3:06)

Adding Framber Valdez to a rotation that already has Hunter Brown, Tatsuya Imai, Cristian Javier and Mike Burrows would create a lot of competition for the sixth rotation spot and also give the Astros a chance to have two righthanders in the pen who can give multiple innings. Having multi-inning relievers in a short pen due to the longer rotation would be paramount for the club to keep key arms like Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu from being overworked.

It may be a longshot, but before today it seemed like a no shot.

Brown swooped in on Imai late and stole him when few in MLB thought Houston was a real player. Could he do it again with Framber?