'Heartbroken': As Astros' ALCS streak ends and club nears crossroads, Jose Altuve speaks up

HOUSTON — Minute Maid Park is a playoff opponent’s playground, a place now hosting more celebrations for its visitors than the vaunted team that calls it home. The Detroit Tigers launched the latest one at 4:28 on Wednesday afternoon, after the seventh consecutive October game an opponent has won inside this ballpark.

Few inside the first-base dugout moved while it unfolded. Arms hung over the top rail and emotionless faces watched a trade deadline seller finish their two-day dethroning of an American League dynasty. Seven consecutive American League Championship Series appearances have conditioned this city and clubhouse for prolonged postseason runs.

“When we get to the playoffs, you’re thinking long term,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “We obviously couldn’t win against the Tigers. It’s tough. We’re heartbroken right now.”

After this anonymous bunch of Tigers turned his home into their own hootenanny, Altuve left the dugout and descended the steps toward the clubhouse. En route, he found Alex Bregman, the latest free-agent cornerstone for a franchise that rarely retains them. “I told him as soon as the game was over that he’s coming back,” Altuve said following the 5-2 defeat.

No two men in Houston Astros’ history have appeared in more postseason games. Bregman had never played a full major-league season that ended before the American League Championship Series. Wednesday gave him a glimpse of how the other half lives, those franchises that don’t make a complex sport seem so simple.

“I haven’t even really had the chance to process this,” Bregman said. “I was planning on being here tomorrow.”

Nothing in this franchise’s past suggests he will, so Bregman stood before the clubhouse for one final address. First-year manager Joe Espada preceded him, praising this club for its resilience from a 12-24 start before promising they’d return to the postseason next year. Bregman followed.

“He said he loved playing with us,” outfielder Chas McCormick said. “He loved how resilient we were. That was our leader, so I’m happy he was able to talk to us. He’s been a huge part of this team obviously. He just talked about how much he loved playing with us and how much we fought this year. Said it was an honor.”

Parsing that past tense or Bregman’s three-word tweet on Wednesday night has become part of this team’s standard operating procedure. Seasons here are supposed to end later than this, but when they do, attention turns to the future of franchise icons. Carlos Correa and George Springer departed. Justin Verlander did once and, this winter, may do it again.

“I don’t want to get to the idea of thinking about the last game with Breggy,” Altuve said. “Like I said two weeks ago, I’m pretty confident that he’s going to be our third baseman next year. We have to. We’re not going to be the same organization without him. In my mind, there’s not a chance this is the last game.”

Altuve has turned into Bregman’s biggest advocate, an unanticipated spokesman for someone who has spent six months saying next to nothing about his looming decision. Any public candor from Altuve is rare. Adamance about anything within the organization is even more so.

“I think I’m not saying anything that is not true,” Altuve said. “He deserves someone — it can be me or another player — to talk (about) him. He’s our leader. Since the day he got here, the whole organization changed in a better direction. He made this team way better. I think there is hopefully a big chance for him to stay here and, not only that, to retire here.”

Asked if he will communicate that to owner Jim Crane, Altuve replied “for sure.” Altuve owns the largest contract Crane has ever given a player in his ownership tenure. Exceeding it will be required to retain Bregman.

“We’ll see what happens,” Bregman said. “I’m going to let Scott (Boras) and the team handle that. Obviously it’s free agency and I’ve never experienced that before. I’ll let him and all the teams handle that.”

Was this Alex Bregman’s final game with the Astros? (Thomas Shea / Imagn Images)

When the clubhouse doors swung open after Bregman’s address, only the slapping of backs and hands pierced the silence. Duffel bags sat in front of lockers while players said goodbyes. Pours from a handle of Crown Royal brought some groups together for one last drink. Verlander signed one of his jerseys and gifted it to Yordan Alvarez.

“Such a tough season, the toughest season since I’ve been here,” Verlander said. “Being able to respond through all the issues and injuries is impressive. Would’ve liked to have capped it off with a World Series championship, but obviously that’s not in the cards.”

Yet it remains the standard Houston has created for itself. Anything less than a World Series is labeled a failure — injuries or in-season adversity be damned. Even capturing one two years ago couldn’t save general manager James Click’s job.

Two seasons later, Crane carried the highest payroll in franchise history, only to watch a manager he fired guide his gritty club past one who appeared worn down. Starting 12-24 will do that, wreaking havoc on an aging team that had to play with urgency for the season’s final four months.

“It was tough,” McCormick said. “I didn’t think what happened was going to happen. It seemed like they wanted it more.”

Few other franchises have such outsized expectations. Failing to meet them prompts outcry that matches the suppositions themselves. Success has spoiled this city and sections of empty seats during these two afternoon games at Minute Maid Park only accentuated it. The end result didn’t match the seven seasons that preceded it. Neither did anything else about the journey.

“It was a very challenging season and we reached the postseason. That’s our goal every year. We win the division, and then play deep into the playoffs,” Espada said. “It didn’t happen for us this year, but I want our guys to be proud of their resiliency and how tough this season was.”

Espada and his coaching staff extracted every ounce of value from a flawed roster ravaged by injury and ruined by questionable decisions that will continue to plague this club into next season. Rafael Montero and José Abreu will earn a combined $31 million next season to not contribute, still under contracts Crane consummated two winters ago while cosplaying as a baseball operations executive.

Abreu’s anemia meant Houston played all season without an established first baseman. Two-thirds of its outfield failed to produce anything offensively. Kyle Tucker missed 79 games after sustaining a fractured shin. Altuve struck out a career-high 119 times, Bregman boasted a career-low .315 on-base percentage and Jeremy Peña’s ballyhooed stance adjustment yielded a .701 OPS. It was .705 last season.

If the lineup felt a bat short all season, scoring three runs in 18 innings against an assortment of Detroit pitchers making the league minimum only reinforced it.

“It’s playoff baseball. Everybody’s good. There’s a reason they’re here and there’s a reason they fight the way they fight,” utilityman Mauricio Dubón said. “It’s a pretty good ballclub. Just tip your hat and get them next year.”

“A lot of bulls–t outside, a lot of bullsh–t inside, but it’s something that everybody stayed together. Sometimes that’s what got us through the games. September came and we were down a couple games and we still managed a way to come through.”

An outfield in desperate need of rejuvenation can’t turn to Drew Gilbert, the Top 100 prospect traded to the New York Mets last August in exchange for 28 starts, 158 1/3 innings and a 4.55 ERA from Verlander. No readymade first basemen are in sight within Houston’s minor-league system, either, but 21-year-old Ryan Clifford could’ve been a candidate to become one. He’s with Gilbert in the Mets’ system.

Prioritizing pennants over prospects has helped to propel Houston through this run. The team doesn’t reach last season’s ALCS without Verlander — or Abreu’s mini-renaissance in September. Without acquiring Yusei Kikuchi in July, it’s worth wondering if this team would’ve even made the playoffs this year.

It did, but the flameout brings this club closer to a crossroads. Tucker and Framber Valdez will be free agents after next season. Altuve isn’t getting younger nor is his defense at second base improving. Alvarez sustained another knee injury. Josh Hader, the closer who has four more years on the richest free-agent contract in Crane’s ownership tenure, allowed a career-high 12 home runs and combusted in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game.

One decision won’t confront the crossroads. Houston has shed superstars and still maintained this magical decade of dominance. Altuve doesn’t seem to believe it’s sustainable. Bregman masked so much of what ailed this club all season, be it with his superb baseball mind or winning mentality. He’s shifted from swaggy to stoic, but is still someone this team can’t live without.

“He gave a lot to this organization, so now it’s time for us — as a team, as an organization — to pay him back and make him stay here,” Altuve said.