Astros insider signals critical issue tied to Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez

The 2025 season was a disppointing one for Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and the Houston Astros. Having won their division, the AL West, for the past four years, the Astros finished second best to rivals the Seattle Mariners this time around. To make matters worse, they ended up missing out on the postseason for only the second time since 2015.

Hoping to improve in 2026, the Astros have several important issues to iron out, one of them being their outfield. With Yordan Alvarez featuring in only 48 games, Jose Altuve spent most of the season in left field, and his defensive ability left much to be desired. To give themselves the best chance of success next year, the Astros may look to change things.

On Friday's episode of "Crush City Territory," The Athletic's Chandler Rome offered his two cents on the matter.

"If I had to guess right now, I would probably say (Yordan) Alvarez (starts the most games in the outfield in 2026)," Rome said (Timestamp: 19:56). I think they want to DH (Jose) Altuve more than certainly they did last year. I think they (Astros) undertand that he's turning 36 years old. His defense anywhere on the field is not very good. He was okay in left field last year, he didn't do anything to embarrass himself, but I think they would like to keep him to the DH role as much as they can.

"I think they're going to have to ask themselves, and this may be a crass way of putting it, but which player do they want to basically take the training wheels off of? Which player are you saying, 'all right, we've gotta just let him play'? Is it the 36-year-old Altuve who will do anything for the team, but you know all of his value is tied to his bat? Or is it Alvarez, who is younger, who has had injury history before?" (Timestamp: 23:13)

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Jose Altuve undergoes foot procedure in offseason, set to recover in time for Spring Training

Early in the offseason, insider Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported that Jose Altuve had undergone a minor procedure to remove fluid from a wound between the fourth and fifth toes on his right foot.

The original injury that caused the fluid build-up dates back to September 13, when Altuve and the Astros faced the Atlanta Braves.

Jose Altuve grimaces after picking up a minor injury - Source: Getty

Having played through pain until the season came to an end, Altuve went under the knife early in the offseason to ensure he is fit and firing by the time Spring Training comes around.