Jose Altuve expects to be "120 percent" ready by the start of spring training after undergoing surgery to repair a patella avulsion fracture in his right knee in October.

Altuve injured his knee sliding into second base in July.

The Houston Astros used Marwin Gonzalez to fill in for Altuve at second base when he was limited to designated hitter in the American League Championship Series.

"I don't think there's a single team in MLB that doesn't like Marwin," Altuve said. "For me, he's the savior. You have a problem, you call Marwin. That's one of the reasons why it's going to be really hard to get him back because he's in such high demand right now."

The Astros opted not to extend a $17.9 million qualifying offer to Gonzalez, who is coveted on the free agent market.