Jose Altuve Is Officially An Astro For Life. Will He Be The Next Player To Reach 3,000 Hits?
It is so rare in sports to see a player play his entire career with one team. Nowadays, guys get lauded for playing most of their career with one team. Miguel Cabrera got a whole year-long sendoff by the Detroit Tigers, and he didn't even begin his career in Detroit. I'm not knocking what they did. Miggy deserves the praise, but it just shows how much things have changed. Pending a trade, which I don't see happening to Altuve in his late 30s, the Astros locked up their second baseman for the remainder of his career. It's safe to say that Jose Altuve is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. He's one of the greatest second basemen of all time, and you can make a strong argument that he's the greatest Houston Astro who lived. The guy has won an MVP, and he's had so many clutch moments in October. He's one of those players that gives off that aura of greatness. When he steps to the plate, he terrifies you. He came up as a solid contact hitter, but I don't think anybody expected that he would become the threat he became in his career's prime. And he is still going strong with the Astros.
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I brought up Miguel Cabrera earlier. Miggy got hit number 3,000. It was a big deal because, in many people's eyes, it would be the last to achieve that milestone for a long time. One of the names that people point out as somebody who could potentially reach the historical milestone was Jose Altuve. He's got well over 2,000 hits: 3,000 is not out of the round with possibility. Batting average is not as important as it used to be. Guys are willing to sell out for power, but somebody like Altuve is the best of both worlds. He can club 20+ home runs while hitting for a high batting average. He has three batting titles in his back pocket for a reason.
Assuming that Altuve plays out his entire contract without retiring, and I think it's safe to assume that he will, he will need just over 158 hits per season to reach the 3000 milestone. Will he do it? I should probably be done doubting Jose too, but I will say no on this one. He's capable of doing it, and if he remains healthy, he obviously will get there, but if we've learned anything from recent Superstars, even the ones who remained relatively healthy throughout their entire career, eventually, Father Time catches up to you. I don't know if it will be an ability issue for Altuve as much as availability. As effective as he is when he's on the field, he only played 90 games last year and is about to enter his age-34 season. I think there will be a 3,000-hit player in the league, but I think it'll be Freddie Freeman. He's around the same age as Altuve, but he plays a less strenuous defensive position, and he's been remarkably healthy. He hasn't seen an IL stint since 2017. They're both Hall of Famers, but I think Freeman will probably be the next to reach 3,000. 
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I'm happy to see Altuve will be in Astro for Life, but I wonder how much longer the Astros championship window is going to be open. They still have an excellent core of players, but their farm system has been completely depleted over the last several years. Whatever Altuve does after this point is gravy anyway. He will have a statue outside of Minute Maid Park one day. They had one of the more dominant runs of recent memory, but they finally have a challenger in the AL West with the defending champion Texas Rangers. Regardless of what happens, I'm happy to see Altuve will wear an Astros uniform forever. It would've been weird seeing him with any other team.