The winter meetings for Major League Baseball have been underway for some time and the Houston Astros have already made some big moves in the offseason to try and make a run in 2017. At this point, all of these acquisitions are position players so I’ll look into that aspect of this team.
The most interesting thing is when you look at a potential lineup, which Brian McTaggart posted a few short days ago after the signing of Carlos Beltran.
One possible Astros 2017 lineup combo:
CF Springer
3B Bregman
2B Altuve
SS Correa
LF Reddick
DH Gattis
RF Beltran
1B Gurriel
C McCann— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 3, 2016
This team has had tons of potential with the amount of depth they have had coming from the minors and that can be evidenced with the impact that Carlos Correa and former LSU Tiger Alex Bregman have had on this team. However, a successful team needs to have a good blend of young stars and veterans to help lead the team and mold the young players so they can reach their full potential. Look at last season’s Chicago Cubs; you had Kris Bryant alongside some veteran players and that led them to their first World Series title in over 100 years.
The ABCs of the Infield
This infield based off of that tweet from Brian McTaggart has the potential to be as good as Chicago’s. You have one of the best players in the league in Altuve who had an MVP-worthy season with a 7.7 WAR and batted for .338. You have a monster in Correa that could be considered one of the best shortstops in the league and a multi-tool player in Bregman that showed signs of greatness after a rough start to his career in the majors. Add Yulieski Gurriel, who had a limited time on the team but still showed a lot of potential to help this team potentially make a run at the playoffs.
Blast From the Past
One of the surprises coming out of the first few days of winter meetings is the acquisition of former Astro Carlos Beltran. Beltran was one of the key ingredients of this team’s 2004 playoff run with eight homers over the course of the postseason, tying the record held by Barry Bonds. After the great season he had with Houston, he left town and headed over to the Mets and drew some ire from fans since then. However, recent statements from Beltran saying that he would have stayed on if he had gotten his no-trade clause in the contract which is a part of his one-year deal with the team. The 39-year old is still playing fairly well, batting .295 last year while with the Yankees and in-state rival Rangers. While his age is a big point of debate, his performance on the field hasn’t truly dipped.
Can This Team Thrive Solely On Long Ball?
In the two years that A.J. Hinch has been manager of the Astros, one thing has become evident: they love the long ball. In 2016 alone, Houston hit 198 home runs which put them in the top half of the league. However, this seems to be more of a detriment because they have been in the top five in strikeouts each of the last two seasons. This team has been a case of living and dying by the home run and it would work fifteen to twenty years ago, but in the era of analytics the emphasis needs to be on finding guys that can hit for average if this team wants to be in contention for the World Series. The acquisitions that have been made so far are showing a move toward playing with an eye for analytics and hitting for average. The next step needs to be toward getting more depth in pitching, be it starters or the bullpen.
-Clint Domingue