Lastros decided to rebuild thru trades, minor league development, etc instead of free agency. Thats not however something u can do in just a yr or 2. Its also resulted in them being overloaded with guys who once had potential but have failed to live up to it in the minors....the kind of guys you get in trades. At the end of last season their roster had about 8 3rd basemen/1st basemen none of whom had ever hit over .220 in the majors.
They do have a few legit prospects this year and a lot of power hitters, the downside is they look to be Dave Kingmen types who will either homer or strikeout. The team batting avg will probably be very low again.
Juan Castro is back at catcher and hes legit. he was injured all last yr so hes not a household name.
Altuve is a legit player at 2nd base and they will have their token Cedeno at shortstop this year. You cant have an Astros lineup without a Cedeno in it somewhere, i have no clue y.
Chris Carter was obtained from the A's and is a very legit powerhitter and should do well since they will be an AL team this year. He can DH but cant play a lick in the field.
Pitching they actually have 3 decent starters in Norris, Harrell and Peacock. Maybe a decent closer in Veras, who wont get many opportunities to show it though. Wesley Wright showed signs of being a decent 5th man/ long reliever last year.
Brett Wallace, Carlos Pena , justin Maxwell and J.D. Martinez are some of the non-hitting infielders left over from last year. Any could have a breakout year...all probably wont if history is any indicator however.
They also have Rick Ankiel playing outfield so at least there is some hope of defense out there.
It should be another tough year, they are in a very tough division now. Hopefully come the trading deadline a few of these guys will have shown enough to get moved for some more quality young players...
They do have a few legit prospects this year and a lot of power hitters, the downside is they look to be Dave Kingmen types who will either homer or strikeout. The team batting avg will probably be very low again.
Juan Castro is back at catcher and hes legit. he was injured all last yr so hes not a household name.
Altuve is a legit player at 2nd base and they will have their token Cedeno at shortstop this year. You cant have an Astros lineup without a Cedeno in it somewhere, i have no clue y.
Chris Carter was obtained from the A's and is a very legit powerhitter and should do well since they will be an AL team this year. He can DH but cant play a lick in the field.
Pitching they actually have 3 decent starters in Norris, Harrell and Peacock. Maybe a decent closer in Veras, who wont get many opportunities to show it though. Wesley Wright showed signs of being a decent 5th man/ long reliever last year.
Brett Wallace, Carlos Pena , justin Maxwell and J.D. Martinez are some of the non-hitting infielders left over from last year. Any could have a breakout year...all probably wont if history is any indicator however.
They also have Rick Ankiel playing outfield so at least there is some hope of defense out there.
It should be another tough year, they are in a very tough division now. Hopefully come the trading deadline a few of these guys will have shown enough to get moved for some more quality young players...
