When you have a dynastic run like the Houston Astros have had over the last decade or so — really, heavily dynastic from 2017 through 2023, when they made the ALCS every season — you have several great players come and go. You wish you could keep everybody forever, but the economics of baseball don’t allow for that. Guys leave, that’s life.
When they return to Daikin Park (or Minute Maid Park, until a couple years ago), it’s fun to give the former Astros a figurative hug and welcome them back. Some of those former players are even worth celebrating, and the way you celebrate former team members in 2026 is via tribute video on the Jumbotron.
Now, I love me a good tribute video as much as the next guy, but this past week there was a moment of celebratory reckoning for me. The Minnesota Twins came to town, and that meant catcher Victor Caratini was making his return to Daikin Park. To be clear, I love Victor Caratini. However, with his .263 batting average and .735 OPS in his two seasons as an Astro (neither of which included a playoff win), I didn’t see Caratini as “tribute video worthy.” That didn’t stop the Astros, though:
Now, let me be clear again — I hate that this article will come across as me somehow denigrating the wonderful human Victor Caratini, but we need standards for our tribute videos. We can’t just dole them out like participation trophies. In short, we need parameters for former Astros from the “Golden Era” (defined as 2015 through present) and their receipt of a tribute video. Thankfully, I am here to provide the guardrails.
Here are the rules for receiving a pregame tribute video for former Astros who played for the team between 2015 and 2026:
The initial cover charge to get a tribute video for members of any Astros team from 2015 through present is….
You must have accomplished at least one of the following:
- Made an All Star team
- Finished in the Top 5 of MVP balloting
- Finished in the Top 3 of Cy Young balloting
- Finished in the Top 3 of Rookie of the Year balloting
- Won a Gold Glove
By this criteria, the following Astros are worthy of a tribute video upon return to Daikin Park (some of whom have already received said video):
ALL STAR SELECTIONS
- Jose Altuve (2015-2018, 2021-22, 2024)
- Dallas Kuechel (2015, 2017)
- Will Harris (2016)
- Lance McCullers (2017)
- Chris Devenski (2017)
- Carlos Correa (2017, 2021)
- George Springer (2017-2019)
- Charlie Morton (2018)
- Alex Bregman (2018-2019, 2022)
- Justin Verlander (2018-2019, 2022)
- Michael Brantley (2021)
- Ryan Pressly (2021)
- Yordan Alvarez (2022-2024)
- Kyle Tucker (2022-2024)
- Framber Valdez (2002-2023)
That criteria gets several Astros inside the tribute video velvet rope, so let’s capture a few others under the other criteria. Keep in mind, some of the above names fit the criteria below, but they’re already in, so these are all new names:
Finished Top 5 MVP, Top 3 CY, Top 3 Rookie of the Year, won Gold Glove
- Gerrit Cole (2019 Cy Young, 2nd place)
- Hunter Brown (2025 Cy Young, 3rd place)
- Cristian Javier (2020 Rookie of the Year, 3rd place)
- Luis Garcia (2021 Rookie of the Year, 2nd place)
- Yuli Gurriel (Gold Glove 2021)
- Jeremy Pena (Gold Glove 2022)
- Mauricio Dubon (Gold Glove 2023, 2025)
If you don’t meet that criteria, then there is still a chance if you were on the 2017 and 2022 World Series title teams…..
…and did one of the following:
- Had an iconic play that saved a game or won a game in a World Series (i.e the “Chas McCormick catch Rule”)
- Had an iconic total game performance that won a game in the World Series (i.e. the “Cristian Javier no hitter Rule”)
- Had an iconic, memorable playoff performance on the way to an eventual World Series title (i.e. the “Lance McCullers 24 straight curveballs balls in the ALCS Rule”)
Under these standards, keeping in mind that a few guys, like Javier and McCullers, are already in tribute video territory, here are a few names to add to the list:
- Marwin Gonzalez (home run off Kelley Jansen in Game 2 of 2017 WS)
- Brian McCann (RBI doubles in 2017 ALCS Games 6 and 7, HR in Game 5 of WS, caught every inning of 2017 WS)
- Brad Peacock (3.2 hitless IP in Game 2 of 2017 WS, underrated!)
- Chas McCormick (huge catch in Game 5 of 2022 WS, HR off Cole in 2022 ALCS)
- Trey Mancini (huge defensive play in 8th inning of Game 5 of WS)
- Hector Neris (1.50 ERA in 2022 postseason, repeated leverage situations)
