Astros star is leaving, according to a former MLB executive, because of what happened.

The Houston Astros have been able to handle the departures of franchise stars Carlos Correa, George Springer and Gerrit Cole in recent years and still be powerhouses in the American League.

It highlights the development that their minor league pipeline has been able to accomplish, despite ranking at the bottom of MLB farm system rankings.

Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman are two of the stars that were on both World Series championship teams.

Following the 2024 season, they will be free agents. There’s been reports that the Astros will prioritize bringing back Altuve over Bregman if they can’t re-sign or extend both players.

Because of that, former MLB executive, Jim Bowden, thinks that it’s likely Houston’s star third baseman will spend his last season with the organization in 2024.

He was projecting what Bregman could get on the open market and thinks it will fall somewhere around what Xander Bogaerts got on the high-end or what Nolan Arenado received.

“Bregman will probably get something between the two, but I’m not sure the Astros will be the team to give it to him,” Bowden writes.

The contract prediction is one thing, but the focus should be on the last part of that sentence.

There is starting to be more and more speculation that the Astros will let their star third baseman walk in free agency following the 2024 season.

That would add to the growing list of players that Houston has decided to not re-sign after they reach a certain age and command a certain price.

Letting their faces of the franchise leave has worked out for the organization in the past, but eventually it becomes more difficult to replace some of the best players in the sport.

Bregman’s contract situation will be one to monitor throughout the year.