DHYordan Alvarez 59 · Isaac Paredes 5 · Christian Vázquez 4
SPPeter Lambert 1.5 · Spencer Arrighetti 0.4 · Tatsuya Imai 0.4 · Kai-Wei Teng 0.2 · Lance McCullers Jr. 0.1
BP★ Bryan King 6 · Steven Okert 7 · Enyel De Los Santos 5 · Bryan Abreu 5 · AJ Blubaugh 4 · Ryan Weiss 0 · Cody Bolton 0 · Jayden Murray 0
Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.
2026 roster — value & surplus
Player
Age
Service
G
fWAR
Salary $M
Surplus $M
Yordan Alvarez
29
FA-elig
103
7.8
26.8
+22.6
Isaac Paredes
27
arb
98
4.1
9.3
+16.4
Jeremy Peña
28
arb
57
3.4
9.5
+11.7
Peter Lambert
29
arb
17
2.3
1.3
+13.3
Christian Walker
35
FA-elig
102
2.3
20.0
-5.7
Carlos Correa
31
FA-elig
32
1.7
21.5
-10.6
Cam Smith
23
pre-arb
103
1.7
0.8
+10.0
Steven Okert
34
arb
51
1.7
2.3
+8.2
Josh Hader
32
FA-elig
21
1.3
19.0
-10.6
Enyel De Los Santos
30
–
45
1.3
1.6
+6.3
Jose Altuve
36
FA-elig
80
1.0
33.0
-26.7
Tatsuya Imai
28
–
14
0.6
16.7
-12.8
Spencer Arrighetti
26
pre-arb
17
0.6
0.7
+3.0
AJ Blubaugh
25
pre-arb
39
0.4
0.8
+1.8
Hunter Brown
27
arb
8
0.4
5.7
-3.3
Joey Loperfido
27
pre-arb
39
0.3
0.8
+1.2
Nick Allen
27
pre-arb
53
0.3
1.4
+0.3
Logan VanWey
27
pre-arb
5
0.3
0.0
+1.7
Kai-Wei Teng
27
pre-arb
25
0.3
0.8
+0.8
Miguel Ullola
24
–
2
0.2
0.8
+0.5
Lance McCullers Jr.↔ MIL
32
FA-elig
8
0.2
15.7
-14.4
Brice Matthews
24
pre-arb
82
0.2
0.8
+0.4
Taylor Trammell
28
pre-arb
49
0.2
0.9
+0.1
Zach Dezenzo
26
pre-arb
30
0.1
0.6
+0.1
Nate Pearson
29
arb
16
0.1
1.4
-0.7
Alimber Santa
23
–
10
0.1
0.5
-0.0
Bennett Sousa
31
pre-arb
7
0.0
0.9
-0.6
LaMonte Wade Jr.
32
–
17
0.0
0.5
-0.4
Cody Bolton
28
pre-arb
8
-0.0
0.2
-0.2
Jayden Murray↔ CHC
29
pre-arb
8
-0.0
0.1
-0.2
Dustin Harris↔ CHW
26
pre-arb
11
-0.0
0.0
-0.1
Braden Shewmake↔ MIL
28
pre-arb
30
-0.0
0.6
-0.7
Collin Price
26
–
7
-0.0
–
–
Lucas Spence
23
–
7
-0.1
–
–
Jason Alexander
33
pre-arb
4
-0.1
0.6
-1.4
Ronel Blanco
32
pre-arb
1
-0.1
0.8
-1.7
Jake Meyers
30
arb
52
-0.1
3.5
-4.5
J.P. France
31
pre-arb
3
-0.1
0.0
-1.0
Shay Whitcomb
27
pre-arb
17
-0.2
0.2
-1.1
Daniel Johnson
30
–
8
-0.2
0.1
-1.1
Christian Vázquez
35
FA-elig
64
-0.2
1.0
-2.3
Yainer Diaz
27
arb
48
-0.2
4.5
-5.8
Bryan King
29
pre-arb
42
-0.2
0.8
-2.2
Christian Roa
27
–
7
-0.2
0.1
-1.5
Raynel Delgado
26
–
17
-0.2
–
–
Zach Cole
25
–
19
-0.2
0.1
-1.6
César Salazar
30
pre-arb
9
-0.3
0.6
-2.5
Cristian Javier
29
FA-elig
7
-0.4
21.4
-24.0
Mike Burrows
26
–
18
-0.4
–
–
Roddery Muñoz
26
pre-arb
3
-0.5
0.1
-2.9
Colton Gordon
27
pre-arb
4
-0.7
0.1
-4.5
Bryan Abreu
29
arb
38
-0.9
5.8
-11.3
Ryan Weiss
29
–
9
-0.9
2.1
-7.8
Key additions (new vs 2025)
Player
fWAR
Peter Lambert
1.5
Tatsuya Imai
0.4
Joey Loperfido
0.2
Nick Allen
0.2
Kai-Wei Teng
0.2
Nate Pearson
0.1
Key subtractions (gone from 2025)
Player
2025 fWAR
Framber Valdez
4.0
Mauricio Dubón
2.2
Ryan Gusto
1.1
Victor Caratini
0.8
Ramón Urías
0.2
Luis Garcia
0.1
Current & Historical Payroll
2026 payroll
$236.9M
luxury tax $211M
2027 guaranteed
$177.7M
What the front office was committed to as of 2026, 2026–2032.
Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2026; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.
current $guaranteed $arbitration (proj)pre-arb (proj)free agentclub optionplayer optionmutual optionvesting option
Summary — luxury-tax (CBT) basis
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Tax threshold
$244M
$247M
$250M
$253M
$256M
$259M
$262M
Guaranteed contracts
$156M
$135M
$102M
$50M
$20M
$15M
Proj. arbitration
$41M
$9M
Proj. pre-arbitration
$14M
$3M
Player benefits
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
$18M
Total CBT payroll
$229M
$165M
$120M
$68M
$38M
$33M
Tax space
+$15M
+$82M
+$130M
+$185M
+$218M
+$226M
Est. tax bill
—
—
—
—
—
—
Luxury-tax (CBT) basis: contract AAV + ~$18M benefits/bonus-pool — distinct from the base-salary payroll above. Threshold is the CBA line. Tier-1 payor rates on the overage. Forward years show only guaranteed deals (arb/pre-arb not yet set). Figures are estimates.
Guaranteed / signed (13)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Jose Altuve
36
14.072
$33.0M
$33.0M
$13.0M
$13.0M
FREE AGENT
Yordan Alvarez
29
6.113
$26.8M
$26.8M
$26.8M
FREE AGENT
Carlos Correa
31
10.119
$21.5M
$20.5M
$20.0M
$25.0MVEST
$20.0MVEST
$15.0MVEST
$10.0MVEST
Cristian Javier
29
6.000
$21.4M
$21.4M
FREE AGENT
Christian Walker
35
7.124
$20.0M
$20.0M
FREE AGENT
Josh Hader
32
8.115
$19.0M
$19.0M
$19.0M
FREE AGENT
Tatsuya Imai
28
–
$16.7M
$18.7MOPT-OUT
$18.7MPLAYER
Lance McCullers Jr.
32
10.140
$15.7M
FREE AGENT
Isaac Paredes
27
4.160
$9.3M
$13.3MCLUB
FREE AGENT
Ryan Weiss
29
–
$2.1M
$5.0MCLUB
Enyel De Los Santos
30
8.000
$1.6M
FREE AGENT
Christian Vázquez
35
11.031
$1.0M
FREE AGENT
LaMonte Wade Jr.
32
7.000
$523k
FREE AGENT
Arbitration-eligible (8)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Jeremy Peña
28
4.000
$9.5M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Bryan Abreu
29
5.022
$5.8M
FREE AGENT
Hunter Brown
27
3.035
$5.7M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Yainer Diaz
27
3.035
$4.5M
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jake Meyers
30
4.044
$3.5M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Steven Okert
34
5.089
$2.3M
FREE AGENT
Nate Pearson
29
4.042
$1.4M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Peter Lambert
29
4.077
$1.3M
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Pre-arbitration (27)
Player
Age
Svc
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
Nick Allen
27
2.164
$1.4M
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Bennett Sousa
31
2.156
$910k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Taylor Trammell
28
2.144
$900k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Cam Smith
23
1.000
$810k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Ronel Blanco
32
2.101
$803k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Bryan King
29
1.100
$800k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Joey Loperfido
27
1.021
$792k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
AJ Blubaugh
25
0.038
$791k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Kai-Wei Teng
27
1.022
$787k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Brice Matthews
24
0.028
$782k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Spencer Arrighetti
26
2.000
$724k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Zach Dezenzo
26
1.055
$613k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
César Salazar
30
1.077
$609k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Braden Shewmake
28
0.065
$589k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Jason Alexander
33
1.134
$563k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Cody Bolton
28
0.149
$209k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Shay Whitcomb
27
0.085
$154k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Zach Cole
25
–
$100k
Jayden Murray
29
0.026
$93k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Christian Roa
27
0.065
$84k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Roddery Muñoz
26
0.123
$63k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Daniel Johnson
30
1.123
$54k
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Colton Gordon
27
0.112
$50k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Dustin Harris
26
0.061
$46k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
J.P. France
31
2.043
$25k
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Logan VanWey
27
0.056
$17k
Pre-Arb
Pre-Arb
ARB 1
ARB 2
ARB 3
FREE AGENT
Mike Burrows
26
–
—
Graphs
Astros's path through relative payroll × TAB, smoothed; markers grow and the arrow points toward the present. WINDOW cheap&winning · CONTEND expensive&winning · FORCED-SPEND dead zone · REBUILD cheap&losing. Compare franchises →
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Astros 2026; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.
What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985