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Astros’ off-season: 10 questions for you

Today, we hand over the reins to our readers and ask you to weigh in on important questions of the day relative to the Astros.

  1. If the budget prevents multiple signings, who would you rather see the Astros re-sign/extend – Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, or Framber Valdez and why?
  2. Would you rather see the Astros move Yainer Diaz to first base or sign a free agent like Christian Walker? Why?
  3. If the Astros went to war with their current roster, filled in with prospects and low-level replacement players, where do you think they would end up in the AL West?
  4. If you had to choose between an MVP season from Yordan Alvarez and a Cy Young season of Framber Valdez – which would you choose?
  5. Who do you think will impact the 2025 Astros most positively – Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia, J.P. France or Cristian Javier?
  6. Do you feel the Astros’ success in improving their club in 2025 depends the most on Owner Jim Crane, GM Dana Brown, or Manager Joe Espada? Why?
  7. Do you think the biggest threat to the Astros’ repeat as AL West Champions is the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers, the LA Angels, the Oakland A’s, or….the Houston Astros?
  8. Do you believe the most critical component to an improved bullpen in 2025 is …. A more consistent season out of Josh Hader, avoidance of over-use of Bryan Abreu, a much better year out of Ryan Pressly, or something else?
  9. Who do you worry will regress in 2025 – Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, or Tayler Scott?
  10. What is the most important one thing that must happen in 2025 for the Astros to succeed?

Thanks for your help today….

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34 responses to “Astros’ off-season: 10 questions for you”

    1. Tucker because he has shown the pedigree to be in the MVP conversation each year.
    2. Sign a free agent for the first base position. Diaz is a unicorn in that he is a very good hitting catcher.
    3. I still feel the club would win the division with what is on the club now.
    4. Yordan!!!! If he is the MVP then good things happened to the club.
    5. Javier will be the surprise impact.
    6. Dana Brown will be the reason for success. I feel Crane is backing out of the decision making for now, especially with R. Jackson leaving, and Brown can get Espada to rethink his own strategy (base running, taking pitches to extend at bats, bullpen usage), those items alone should strengthen the success of the club.
    7. The Houston Astros. Does Espada, again, change his in his in game strategy?
    8. Avoid the over use of Abreau.
    9. Tayler Scott.
    10. Win more games than any other team in MLB, including 11 more in the post season!

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    1. The easy answer should be Tucker, but if they gave him a 10 year deal we could/should expect the same performance on the back half not living up to the salary that we’d expect out of a 5 year Bregman contract.
    2. I think maximizing production sees Diaz stay at C this year and looking for someone else to play 1B in 25/26.
    3. My heart says we still win the division, but my head is concerned about the offense.
    4. MVP from Yordan. That means he outperformed Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Seager, etc. by a wide margin.
    5. Garcia
    6. Brown has to fill some holes. I don’t expect any improvements out of Espada unless he is directed not to do certain things. I’m fearful if Crane really opens the wallet it just continues hurting our farm system.
    7. Rangers. The Mariners were contenders because of their great starting pitching and ability to use their home park to their advantage. The Rangers have some arms I really like as well as some dangerous hitters. If we lose to the Angels it would be really disappointing.
    8. Abreu. He pitches in far more situations where the Astros are in danger of losing the game.
    9. Scott. I see strong evidence that Blanco and Brown can continue being excellent.
    10. I’m going to say that they need to play stronger defense. During our best years our defense was elite. Pena and Diaz can’t have so many mental lapses. Altuve/Singleton is not going to be a strong half of the infield, but if they make the plays that are in front of them the pitchers can limit the damage. Defensively, if we brought back Chas/Jake/Tucker our outfield defense would be as strong as anyone in the league.

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    1. I believe Bregman has started his decline. I think Tucker is the guy that we can count on for 8 solid years if we have to. Still might not be what he requires. And Framber, we can’t let him go this year unless there is a solution for the innings he gives us. That means a Kikuchi deal. Probably doubtful.

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  9. Yainer is going to keep getting better as a hitter. I don’t know how much better he’ll get defensively behind the plate, but I think at least for now, he’s a more well rounded catcher than he is a first baseman.

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    • So to answer the other half of that question, I’d like to see Walker on a relatively short deal, but I don’t see the budget. I think we’re looking at another homespun operation at first this year as much as I’d rather see a better solution.

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  10. 3. With pitching and a bounce back year from Chas, the Astros might well win the West again, with or without Alex Bregman at third. But a deep playoff run? We’d need a couple of the young guys to step up and play like they’ve played in AAA.

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  11. 4. Framber could win the Cy Young and disappear in the post season. Give me an MVP from our DH and very part time left fielder.

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  12. I have no real expectations of France or Lance. Garcia is the guy I’m really hoping to see reestablish himself in 2025. And hopefully Reptil will come along at some point during the season.

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  13. Crane still controls the spending. If he wants Verlander, even if it’s an ill advised move for too much guaranteed money, we’ll get Verlander. So I don’t think Dana really wears the pants, even now. Joe is safe as long as he is a better manager in 2025 assuming he does not lose his club. They seemed to be with him in 2024.

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  14. 7. Good question. All of the teams can contend if certain things fall into place. We’re the old guys. I keep saying this, but we’ve got to get younger and more athletic.

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  18. Sorry about all those short posts, but the computer/Chipalatta decided to cooperate this morning. Maybe with my deep tech knowledge I’ve finally figured out the bugs! Doubtful.

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    1. I would sign Tucker to a long term deal because he is our best player and is young enough to be worth it.
    2. Yainer is a better catcher than he is at 1B.
    3. I think they would be in trouble with their current roster. They need to get younger, faster and better defensively.
    4. I would choose Yordan for MVP and trade Framber, because he hasn’t given any indication he would resign here.
    5. I have to go with France considering the timing of the injuries to the other three

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  20. 6. I think the Astros chances depend mostly on Dana Brown because he has the title and knowledge of an MLB GM and the others don’t. That has become very obvious.

    7. I believe ,with their current rosters, the Rangers are the biggest threat.

    8. I believe the best way to improve our bullpen is to fill it with pitchers with good stuff and get rid of relievers with below average stuff.

    9. I worry about Taylor Scott if they continue to use him so much.

    10. I think the key to success in the future is the Astros establishing stability in their processes and in their front office. They need to be seen as a force in the international market , in the draft, on the field and they need to redevelop their reputation as a class organization. They need to hug just below the luxury tax line and stay right there.

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  22. And thank you to all the veterans who visit and comment here. We appreciate what you did for this wonderful country and hope that you are having a good day today.

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    1. Tucker by far, every day player and much younger
    2. Move Yainer to 1st, Walker’s very good but very old – would lengthen Yainer’s career
    3. They would be in contention because the AL West is the worst in MLB
    4. MVP for the big guy, I’d trade Framber
    5. Garcia, the rest I doubt they’ll be back and France shouldn’t be on the roster or at best #5
    6. Crane, always has been
    7. The Astros, Seattle has horrible management and the mall cops are reducing payroll
    8. All the above
    9. Scott – relievers are volatile, then Blanco, not worried about Brown
    10. Pitchers stay healthy

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    1. Bregman and Valdez may not be “smart” contracts and Tucker is probably out of the teams price range. Tucker is younger and is built like a ballplayer, long, athletic, a body that seems it should hold (sans freak foul balls). So I would say Tucker because it’s not my money.
    2. Diaz to first – Walker is expensive. Diaz is cheap. And let him focus on hitting. I can see 2025 being a part time role like the last 2 months of 2024, where some days Singleton is out there, some days Diaz with Caratini pitching. Yainer is becoming one of the solid bats in the lineup.
    3. I think they win it. But there will be some frustrating days. A rotation of Valdez, Brown, Blanco, Arrighetti, a returning Garcia and maybe McCullers, at some point you see Blubaugh and Gusto, at some point a returning France, the depth is there in the rotation to win it, and when all is said and done, thats what wins regular seasons. But Seattle has a lot of the same qualities, probably a slightly better rotation but an even worse offense.
    4. MVP for the big man, means he was healthy.
    5. I’ll say Garcia. I know the Astros fandom has given up on LMJ, but there is potential. I don’t know whats in the arm after years of sitting around, but if he can hit 95 or 96 on the fastball in ST it could be a good season for him.

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  26. I want to thank all of you for some really good input on this post. I read them all and you are just a very thoughtful group – always.

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  27. 6. Brown and Espada go together. They have to create a path to winning, and they have to be in sync about what type of players they want and what the usage of them does to help you. If they aren’t you can see a GM that focuses on the bullpen and a manager trying to playing traditionally and get 6 innings from every starter when that’s not how the GM built it. They have to share a brain. They can’t do anything about the 54 losses coming, they can’t stop the 54 wins that are going to be handed to us by the other pitching staff, but it’s the 54 in between, those 1 and 2 run games, that come down to a 6th inning pitching decision, that their brains decide the right guy in the right spot, at bat or relief moment, that decide pennants.

    7. Mariners. They have the rotation.

    8. Probably comes down to better decision making on when they pitch, but Pressly may be done.

    9. They may all 3 regress some. Scott is probably the most likely. Brown has always had ace stuff, and Blanco has always had very good stuff as well, it’s just been hitting their spots. They both did that this year. Trust stuff. It’s possible in the end we will just see Tay Scott as a guy that put together a run of zeros, but nothing about his swing and miss makes you think he is going to repeat those zeros.

    10. A healthy rotation. No saying the name of should be hall of famer Tommy John out loud.

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