The Houston Astros have a couple of incredibly talented, young players on their roster. Yordan Alvarez signed a big extension with the team already, and next in line is Jeremy Peña. However, that potential Pena extension was dealt a good bit of bad news after a new article from Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

Rome held a question-and-answer session with Astros fans, and one of the questions revolved around the Astros getting an extension done with some of their younger players. Regarding Peña, Rome gave a bleak outlook on a potential deal.

"The time to extend Peña has passed," Rome wrote. "Earlier this season, Peña acknowledged that playing for one franchise his entire career is something that intrigues him, but given the season he is putting together, it would be foolish for him to sign anything long-term."

This is an unquestionably bad update on a potential Peña extension. Things were already trending in a negative direction once Peña switched to Scott Boras as his agent. But, after this report, there is a strong indication that Peña will hit free agency after the 2027 season. 

While losing Peña will stink, the Astros will fortunately have him for the next few seasons for a fairly reasonable price. He's been a major part of the Astros organization since his call-up in 2022, where he won World Series MVP and a Gold Glove in his rookie season.

Peña has been at his best in 2025, and he's on pace to surpass a lot of previous career highs. Through the first 78 games of the season, Peña has 99 hits, 47 runs scored, 16 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs, 40 RBIs, 15 stolen bases, 19 walks, and 54 strikeouts.

His .326 batting average is .060 points higher than his previous career high, and his on-base percentage is .056 points higher than his previous career high as well. Peña is also slugging the ball better than ever in his career, with a slugging percentage of .493, .067 points higher than his previous career high.

Peña has been one of the best shortstops in baseball in 2025, and based on his production this season, is in line to earn a massive payday once he hits free agency. In Rome's view, the Astros missed their window to sign him to a long-term deal.

Rome predicts that not only will Peña hit free agency after 2027, but that the Astros won't bring him back. Peña has earned a massive payday, but Rome predicts it won't be with the Astros.