Astros extend Cristian Javier in Dana Brown’s first move as GM

The Houston Astros announced Friday they agreed to a five-year contract extension with starting pitcher Cristian Javier.

Javier, 25, is now slated to be in Houston through at least 2027. His deal is worth $64 million with a $2 million signing bonus, per the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome.

Javier will enter his fourth MLB season in 2023. He enjoyed a breakout season last year, a campaign in which Javier posted a 2.54 ERA with 194 strikeouts in just 148 2/3 innings. Javier then continued his dominance in the postseason. He allowed just one earned runs across 12 2/3 innings, and he threw six no-hit innings in Game 4 of the World Series, a game in which the Astros threw the first combined no-hitter in World Series history.

Friday’s contract extension marks Dana Brown’s first move as Houston’s new general manager, and it takes a page out of his previous team’s playbook. Brown and the Atlanta Braves have signed a number of under-27 players to major contract extensions in recent years, something Brown highlighted as a potential strategy in Houston this week.

“I think you guys will realize that we are getting closer to [extensions with] some of our guys,” Brown told the media at Minute Maid Park on Thursday. “At the end of the day, that’s an important part of what we do. Coming from Atlanta, we did that well.”

“We probably handed out more years than anyone in baseball if you do the math, and I think that’s a big part of what we should do. We owe that to the fan base, to keep the players in the city, and that’s what we plan to do.”

Javier’s deal signals another commitment to Houston’s young core, with his $66 million deal joining Yordan Alvarez’s $115 million extension signed in 2022. But as Javier rises as one of baseball’s top strikeout artists, his deal could soon look like a bargain.