What are ya'lls expectations for the 'stros next season? This has been a fresh new exciting team to watch, and i'm really curious about if we should be looking forward to anything in the near future.
Still suck. It's going to take time for the talent from recent drafts to make it up. I don't see them signing a bunch of free agents to the point that they are competitive.
Astros will need a lot of things to make them contenders next season. Wandy must continue his current pace. Myers must pitch like he did this year. Happ must continue improving. Bourn must get to at least .285 with solid OBP. Kepp must continue hitting as well as he has this season. Pence must take his game up a notch. Lee must have a nice bounceback year. CJ must prove to be legit. Wallace needs to keep improving and show some power. Castro needs to raise his average up to respectable .250 Sanchez must be an average SS If all that happens together I can see this team being in the race.
Looking at our current roster I'd expect 70-75 wins next year. I think we are 1-2 decent drafts away from being back to where we should be. We also have a large amount of payroll flexibility to make some additions. I expect this team to be playoff ready in 2-3 years. I'm hoping for 2 more years of growth and then we should be almost there.
No playoffs anytime soon, but encouraged. Definitely a draft or two away from putting together a contending team but this year was a good step in the right direction with Drayton willing to trade some of the vets.
Actually, if Wallace and Castro can improve at the plate, they could be decent (not good, but decent) next year. 1B Wallace 2B Sanchez SS Keppinger 3B Johnson LF Lee CF Bourn RF Pence C Castro Rotation: Wandy, Happ, Meyers, Norris, Hernandez Bullpen: Arias, Lopez, Abad, Melancon, Lyon, Lindstrom The Astros also have tremendous savings from not having Berkman and Oswalt on the books next year. If the team wants to keep payroll where it was this year, they would also have the money to go get a FA catcher (in case Castro cannot turn it around at the plate) and a middle of the rotation SP. They may not be all that bad next year.
I think the Astros will be a 70 win team next season. Farm system still sucks for the most part and I don't think guys like Brett Myers and Chris Johnson will have the type of season they have had again. At the same time, I expect Jason Castro and Brett Wallace to make some progress with big league experience under their belt. I think Jeff Keppinger and Tim Byrdak will be traded. Brian Moehler, Jason Michaels, and Geoff Blum won't be re-signed in my opinion. No need for Micheals anymore because you have younger and cheaper options like Brian Bogusevic, Jason Bourgeois, and Andrew Locke who could fill the 4th and 5th outfield spot. No need for Blum anymore because you have younger and cheaper options like Angel Sanchez, Andereson Hernandez, and Matt Downs who could fill the utility infielder positions. Bullpen of Brandon Lyon, Matt Lindstrom, Wilton López, Alberto Arias, and Fernando Abad will be solid. Rotation of Wandy Rodríguez, Brett Myers, J.A. Happ, Bud Norris, and either Jordan Lyles, Felipe Paulino, or Nelson Figueroa will be below average to average.
No way Jeff Keppinger can be a everday shortstop in my opinion. He has below average range at 2nd base. Who is the Hernandez you have part of the rotation?
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Sorry. I meant Figueroa. I had infielder Anderson Hernandez on the brain. Duh! Our options at SS are Manzella, Keppinger and Sanchez. Manzella, IMO, is too large an offensive liability. Keppinger has better range than Sanchez. That is why I chose Kepp at SS and Sanchez at 2B.
JD and Brownie were mentioning playoffs the other day during the game...but I don't see that. This team is young and exciting, but...they are young. And they are still a number of question marks. I think it's entirely realistic to see them around .500 next season, a little above or below. They've pretty much played at that clip after a horrible start when the team was drastically different. Playoffs are a slight possibility though but only because of the weak division.
I'd say between 80-83 wins. I like what we have with starting pitching and assuming Paulino can come back healthy it should be a fun season.
I think this is about right. I think Drayton goes out and gets the best free agent starter he can find, and with some good production from the youngsters, they're about mediocre. Thankfully, it's 81-81 going the right direction.
Honestly this team has been exciting. The pitching has been masterful for the past month or so. Pitching this well for a whole month means that guys are pitching legitimately. It seems that trading Roy and Berkman relaxed everyone (pitchers and hitters). Castro and Wallace I think will be legitimate hitters. I think that Castro will be a career .275 type of hitter. I think Wallace will be a .300 type hitter; he needs to bring power to the plate though. You can't have a 1st baseman not demonstrating power in the big leagues. Depending on how quickly both Castro and Wallace catch up to the big league pitchers, I think this team can stomach Manzella's offense - but geez he has a sweet gold glove.. Myers is really coming into his own. I was amazed that Myers showed a lot of loyalty to Ed Wade. Myers explained that the only GM that legitimately wanted him this past off season was Ed... So I guess when the trade deadline was approaching, conversations developed that Myers was interested in signing an extension. Your top 3 starters are, and all 3 guys are control type guys. Myers Rodrigues Happ Your 4th and 5th starter should be: Norris Paulino I think the Pitching (Starters and Bullpen) will be the teams anchor. So if the team hits, and is League average in the categories that count, this team will make some waves in the wild card race. I would doubt the team can make the playoffs next season, but I think it will be fun watching this team start a new winning tradition. Team will be exciting next season. Heck Drayton may find some buyers for the Astros now...
