WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Houston Astros are planning to play Jose Altuve mostly in left field this season, manager Joe Espada told the Houston Chronicle on Monday.

A nine-time All-Star, three-time batting champion and the 2017 AL MVP, Altuve has played all but two of his 1,767 major league games at second base. He won the Gold Glove in 2015, and in 2020, he led the American League with the fewest errors, with four.

"Right now the plan is for him to play the majority of his games in left field," Espada said, adding that moving Altuve "back and forth is something that I am going to avoid."

The idea of moving Altuve to left was first broached when the team was looking to keep third baseman Alex Bregman, who wound up signing with the Boston Red Sox. If Bregman had returned to Houston, it might have forced newly acquired Isaac Paredes to shift to second base and Altuve to the outfield.

"Whatever I have to do for [Bregman] to stay, I'm willing to do it," Altuve said at the team's FanFest in January.