Houston

Astros

“Melton’s another guy that could be a big piece for us,” Brown said during last month’s annual GM meetings. “He’s a really good defensive outfielder with power. He has a chance to make an impact.” The 24-year-old outfielder will presumably compete next spring with established veterans Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers to carve out a permanent role in Houston’s outfield mix, but he’s on the verge of reaching the big leagues after batting .253/.310/.426 with 15 homers and 30 steals in 443 plate appearances last year between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Sugar Land. Melton checked in at OF70 in Rotoworld’s 2025 Top 500 dynasty rankings and his power/speed combination makes him an easy top 100 fantasy prospect heading into next year. He’s a name to keep on watch lists, even in re-draft formats entering spring training.

The Astros are intent on bringing Alex Bregman back this offseason, but Rosenthal mentions that they would be interested in Jorge Polanco as a fallback option if Bregman decides to go elsewhere. It would be an interesting pivot since the 31-year-old Polanco was not good in 2025, slashing .213/.296/.355 in 469 plate appearances for the Mariners. He also had surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his knee earlier in October and has graded out as a well below-average second baseman during his career, so there is no guarantee he could transition to third base full-time.

The biggest surprise here is that Jake Meyers was actually tendered a contract as he looked to be a candidate to get left out in the cold here. It still wouldn’t be shocking to see him purged from the Astros’ roster at some point before the 2025 season begins. Bryan Abreu, Mauricio Dubon, Luis Garcia, Chas McCormick, Jeremy Pena, Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez were all tendered contracts as anticipated on Friday.

Gordon is now ineligible for the Rule 5 draft, and all-but-assuredly would have been selected. The 26-year-old forged a 3.94 ERA and 124/39 K/BB for Sugar Land in 2024.

It’s a 15-year agreement with Daikin Industries, which is known for producing air conditioners. Originally Enron Field, Houston’s ballpark had been known as Minute Maid Park or, better, The Juice Box, for the last 22 years.

Morosi notes that while the Dodgers, Braves, Giants and Red Sox all make sense as suitors given their vacancies at shortstop, he also adds that the Yankees, Blue Jays and Astros are believed to be interested in Adames as a third baseman. The 29-year-old slugger is coming off of his finest season as a professional, setting new career highs in home runs (31), RBI (112), stolen bases (21) and runs scored (93). He should wind him hitting in the middle of a contender’s lineup so regardless of his landing spot expect Adames to remain as a fringe top-10 option at the shortstop position in fantasy drafts.

Okert heads to Houston as extra left-handed relief depth after struggling to a lackluster 5.09 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 33/16 K/BB ratio across 35 1/3 innings (44 appearances) last season with the Twins. The 33-year-old veteran southpaw has made 272 appearances in the big leagues dating back to 2016. He’ll compete in spring training for a spot in the Astros’ season-opening bullpen.

Otto latched on with the Astros in early August, shortly after being released by the Padres, and will remain with Houston heading into next season as extra organizational pitching depth. The 28-year-old hurler compiled a pedestrian 5.62 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 146/76 K/BB ratio across 169 2/3 innings (39 appearances, 33 starts) from 2021 to 2023 with the Rangers. He’s more of a depth addition at this juncture of his career.

Pressly was a solid closer for the Astros before the team signed Josh Hader, but with Hader now in town and Bryan Abreu continuing to thrive in the bullpen, Pressly is now a bit more expendable. The soon-to-be 36-year-old is also coming off a down season that saw him post a 3.49 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 59 appearances. He also allowed 9.2 hits per nine innings which was his most in any 162-game season since 2016. Additionally, his whiff rate fell to 26.9 percent, which was four percent below his career average so now could be time for the Astros to see what they can get for him.

McCullers missed all of the last two seasons with injury, but it’s at least a positive sign that he’s able to throw in the offseason. When healthy he’s shown the ability to be an effective option, but there’s just too much risk in his profile to make him someone to target in fantasy at this stage of his career.