MLB News: $100M Extension Put On Hold As Astros Player Changes Agents

Jeremy Pena is having a sensational 2025 season, batting .326 with an .877 OPS (145 OPS+) with 11 homers, 40 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. It all seemed to be heading towards a huge new five-year contract extension for him with the Houston Astros, north of the $100 million mark. "Serious long-term talks" had been ongoing for some time, per insider Jon Heyman, and the two sides were getting close as they were deep in conversation.

But alas, Pena has thrown a wrench into the talks by switching agents in the middle of negotiations. And to make matters worse, it's a HUGE wrench, as he switched to the notorious Scott Boras. So much for an agreement. That's "on hold" now as Heyman notes.

They were talking about a deal for in the range of $100M. Now on hold. https://t.co/uMGjzT0lfQ
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 25, 2025

Anyone who follows baseball knows that Boras is loath to letting his clients sign an extension in-season, almost always preferring to wait until free agency to get a bidding war going. For Pena, that would be after the 2027 season, as there are still two more years of team control.

Naturally, the Astros were looking to sign Pena up for a number of those free agent years, but of course, Boras wouldn't have any of that.

The Astros avoided arbitration this past winter with Pena, signing him (with his previous agent) to a $4.1 million deal for this season. But those nice, agreeable days are over, and some might say that with the hiring of Boras, the Astros are now at risk of losing Pena altogether in 2027.

Michael Shapiro of chron.com does point out, however, that eleven current major league shortstops currently have contracts that exceed $100 million. And as Shapiro says, "Peña surpasses all of them in Wins Above Replacement in 2025."

The Astros weren't able to keep previous stars Alex Bregman or Kyle Tucker in town this past year, losing the former to free agency when they wouldn't meet his price, and being forced to deal Tucker to the Chicago Cubs when it was obvious that his free agent demands would far outweight their ability (or desire) to pay.

There probably won't be much follow-up on this for another two years, when Pena is playing out the final year of his team control in Houston.