Jim Crane has said that he will increase the payroll for next season. Experts are predicting that they will sign a power hitting outfielder, a starting pitcher and a reliever before next season.
I am guessing:
OF - Corey Hart from the Brewers, Jason Kubel from the Diamondbacks or Josh Willingham from the Twins. Outside shots include Mark Trumbo or Coco Crisp.
SP - Ubaldo Jimenez from the Indians, Homer Bailey from the Reds or Josh Johnson from the Blue Jays. Outside shots include Josh Beckett and James Shields.
RP - Ryan Madson, Huston Street or Jose Veras again.
Callups include CF George Springer and 1B Jonathan Singleton, SP Mark Appel and SP Mike Foltynewicz. There are a lot of power arms in the minors that could come up and help in the rotation or bullpen.
With these additions and callups, I would say the lineup has much more pop and the starting rotation is already formidable (Cosart, Oberholtzer, Appel, Peacock, Lyles and Keuchel). If they sign another SP, then they would have a solid starting 4 with rotational 5th. Some SP in the minors will be used for trade bait or put in the bullpen. The pen is the big question.
You are right, the future is VERY bright, not only brighter than the Mariners and White Sox but I would also say at the very least - Cubs, Padres, Mets, Twins, Marlins, Rockies, Brewers and Phillies. I can easily see them finishing 3rd in the AL West next year.
If you think Castro and Altuve were flashes of brilliance, keep your eye on Jared Cosart and George Springer. Go to the Astros home page and look at the top 20 prospects. There are at least 6 pitchers that are going to be highly sought after. Delino Deshield Jr, Nolan Fontana and Carlos Correa are also very interesting.
I think the Astros will be better next year. I believe they had the lowest payroll in baseball last season and the owner said he plans to raise it. The worst thing for them is that they are in a very tough divison. The A's and Rangers are perrenial playoff teams, and the Angels should always be considered tough with the bundles of money they spend. Astros are a young squad, that will get better by developing chemistry with each other on the field. They have a chance to get 4th place in my opinion depending on how Seattle plays, but they shouldnt be as bad as they were this year.
Honestly no. It's a really bad team and there is no indication that the franchise is trying to improve the situation. Ultimately the fans are getting screwed big time. If ticket prices go up again in Houston the fans should strike and stay away.
They certainly wont make the play offs in 2014. Give them a few years to develop their young guys and sign some big names, then we can start talking. As for 2014 they should improve some. You have a lot to look forward to as an astros fan.
It will take them at least 305 more years until they are ready to seriously compete. They are just in the beginning of a rebuilding stage.
They claim they're rebuilding so it will take 4-5 more years, you need to see where they'll be in 2018. Don't expect anything better before that, honestly.
They're gonna try to improve to 112 losses.
Frankly, probability indicates they pretty much "have" to get better.
Nowhere to go but up. Literally.
I think this team has the depth to contend. In the limited number of games I watched, I saw flashes of brilliance in Altuve and Castro. I don't think this team was as bad as their final record indicated. They finished last in the league in virtually every category, but the team also has guys who are in their early 20's and have only played two or three full seasons. The roster is most likely to be the same with the young guys under contract and they have a manger who is a smart and passionate baseball man. This team can't be any worse than they are right now. In fact I think this team has a brighter future than the Mariners or even the White Sox.
