Among the many indications that have made it apparent Alex Bregman is unlikely to return to the Houston Astros is the team's unwillingness to be flexible with their contract offer to the two-time All-Star.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Astros "don't want to stretch" their offer to Bregman beyond six years.

MLB.com's Brian McTaggart noted on Dec. 13 that Houston's formal offer to the star third baseman is for roughly $156 million over six years.

While that would be the richest contract by total value in Astros history, it seems like a lower offer than Bregman will end up getting on the open market. Passan noted he could end up signing for around $200 million.

Houston seems to be making moves with an eye toward not having Bregman on the roster. The team acquired Isaac Paredes, whose primary position is third base, from the Chicago Cubs in the Kyle Tucker trade.

The Astros also tried to make a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals for Nolan Arenado, but he used his no-trade clause to block the move, per McTaggart, Mark Feinsand, John Denton.

MLB.com's report noted talks between the Astros and Cardinals are "ongoing," but the Astros aren't optimistic about Arenado changing his mind.

Even though Bregman has been a staple of Houston's lineup during the most successful period in franchise history, not wanting to budge on its six-year offer isn't necessarily a bad move.

Bregman's offensive production has been trending downward recently. He is hitting .261/.341/.446 since the start of the 2023 season after posting a .277/.375/.497 slash line.

This isn't to say that Bregman won't continue to be a good player for the next few years, but there are indications he may be entering the downside of his peak.

Trading away Tucker when he was still under team control for one more year may have been an indication the Astros might be starting to turn the page on this most recent era and start building toward whatever the next great version of this roster will look like.