I'll be discussing the Houston Astros throughout the 2016 Major League Baseball season.

Opening day is on Monday, April 4 when the Astros play the New York Yankees on the road.
It will be a 1:05 PM eastern first pitch time and can be seen nationally on ESPN. Play Ball!

Still a couple months away from opening day but spring training is just around the corner..
In fact, pitchers and catchers for the Houston Astros report in only two weeks from now.

The Houston Astros had a pretty good off-season, trading for electric reliever and closer Ken Giles.
They also signed starting pitcher Doug Fister. I really feel both additions were huge for this team.

If they can stay healthy they should improve upon last year's exciting playoff team that battled the eventual 2015 World Series champion, Kansas City Royals, tooth and nail in that ALDS. It went a full five games, with the Astros leading by two runs or more in all three of the games they had lost. That included the heartbreaker in Game 4 in Houston when the Astros had a 6-2 lead in the top of the 8th and were only six outs away from eliminating the Royals. But they couldn't hold that four-run lead. If only they had Ken Giles last October. Thus, the emphasis on acquiring him this off-season was aggressive.

But as we approach the 2016 season there is much to be excited about the Houston Astros. The young core of everyday players such as Carlos Correa (SS), Jose Altuve (2B), George Springer (RF) and A.J. Reed (1B) is impressive. And then you have Cy Young award winner and Ace Dallas Keuchel setting the tone at the top of the starting rotation followed by young phenom Lance McCullers. Collin McHugh is more than capable of being a decent number three starter.

Doug Fister, Mike Fiers and Scott Feldman - at least two - should fill out the back-end of the rotation quite nicely. And the Astros bullpen, with the addition of Ken Giles aka #100MilesGiles (best ERA in MLB History - 1.56 - minimum of 100 innings pitched), should be as good as any in all of baseball. I'm excited and ready to watch.

This is the best collection of young talent the Astros have had in over three decades. You have to go back to Jeff Bagwell's rookie season in 1991 when they had a young Craig Biggio, Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley, Luis Gonzalez, Curt Schilling and Kenny Lofton. Unfortunately they had traded Schilling and Lofton that same year. Both of them became superstars for other teams (Phillies, Diamondbacks and Indians). Caminiti went on to win an MVP award with the Padres (steroid aided). And Luis Gonzalez had the game-winning hit in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series for the Diamondbacks.

No telling what could have been had the Astros kept all of that young talent together in 1991. Or if they hadn't passed on Derek Jeter with the #1 overall pick in the 1992 draft, selecting Phil Nevin instead. But you get the point. As painful as it is to stroll down memory lane I have to be honest with my opinions.

The 2016 Houston Astros have the most young talent on their roster since that 1991 season. What they do with it is going to dictate how successful they can become for the long haul, as in the next decade and beyond, and whether or not they can win a World Series for the first time in franchise history.

Also the Astros minor league system is still pretty strong thanks to a solid draft class in 2015.
Guys like Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Daz Cameron are already on the fast track in the system.

Should the Astros want to make a trade near the non-waiver trading deadline in late July during this season...
They certainly have the resources to go out and snag a good player if they feel they need to address any area.

An X-Factor for the 2016 Houston Astros? Two of them actually. Carlos Gomez and Colby Rasmus. Gomez is a very good centerfielder when healthy and Rasmus is a streaky hitter with good pop in his bat. He also plays a really good defense in left field. I would imagine both of them will start with Preston Tucker and Jake Marisnick coming off the bench and spot starting every now and then.

The 2016 Houston Astros: Their goal is to win the 2016 World Series as they enter this season. That's usually the goal for any good team but the Astros now have a legitimate argument that they belong in that conversation. They certainly proved they belonged on the same field with the 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals last October. Now the Astros have to take that next step this year.

The entire city of Houston is Astros mania right now. The Rockets and Texans, for the first time in a long time, take a back seat.

Former all-star catcher Jason Castro will be paid $5 million dollars by the Houston Astros in 2016. He lost his arbitration case earlier today over a difference of $250,000. There's been a little bad blood between Jason Castro and the Astros front office that has been ongoing for a couple of years now, mostly due to finances and the fact he was never offered a long-term contract. But to be fair to the Astros front office it's hard to pay a guy big money when his play on the field has gone from all-star caliber to very bad.

Jason Castro had asked the Astros to trade him during the past two off-seasons but I was hoping that Castro's attitude would change given the fact the Astros have a good team now. For most of his career behind the plate the Astros had the worst record in all of baseball. And it's hard to justify shelling out big money to a former all-star catcher who's defensive skills have gotten worse over the past few years (more passed balls allowed), who once could hit .276 offensively as well (.350 On-base percentage too), but has greatly gone down to .222 and .211 hitting the past two seasons. He no longer gets on base at a good pace either.

The one thing Jason Castro still does at an all-star level, which is often overlooked by the fans, is call a good game for our young pitchers. He's a bookworm in the film room (even scouts on his laptop in the dugout during games) and studies every hitter on other teams. He also has a canon arm to throw base runners out. He's worth the money simply for that I guess. He still has decent pop in his bat. 18, 14, 11 home runs hit the past three seasons but even that has steadily gone downhill. I always thought he could become a 25 HR a year guy. He has that nice uppercut power swing from the left side of the plate.

2016 will probably be Jason Castro's last year with the Astros. I can't say I'll miss that .222 and .211 batting average but he's always been a guy I enjoyed watching for reasons stated above. With so many great young players, Castro (28) is becoming an older veteran on the team that has shown a lot of decline in his all-around game.

The Astros will soon have one of the higher payrolls in all of baseball just by paying their best young players a steady pay raise in arbitration every year. They just handed out $7.25 million in arbitration to Dallas Keuchel for 2016 (reigning American League Cy Young award winner), and he's arguably, more like definitely, the best starting pitcher in the American League right now. Carlos Correa will one day command superstar money so we have to enjoy these cheaper club control years while we have it.

In a few more weeks the 2016 Houston Astros will begin their spring training workouts.
And then a full month of spring training, exhibition games. I can't wait for Opening Day on April 4!!!!

Having a healthy George Springer in right field and Carlos Gomez in center field will give us more of an edge going into 2016. Keeping those two players healthy is very important. That would make our outfield as good as any around, both offensively and defensively.

The 2016 Astros have the makings of a very good starting rotation, lineup and bullpen. Having a filthy closer, like Ken Giles, who can bring the heat (#100MilesGiles) is going to be a lot of fun to watch. All three phases have tons of talent and potential. Just a matter of having some luck staying healthy. I mean really, we were a few lucky bounces away from reaching the ALCS last year and that was just an unproven young team without any major playoff experience. Now they have that going into 2016.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Feb 9 2016 02:47pm

A couple of burning questions as the 2016 Houston Astros set to begin their first spring training workouts tomorrow.

1. Will top hitting prospect A.J. Reed win the job as a rookie, at first base, or will Jon Singleton step up and contribute in a wide open race this spring? It's been a long time since the Astros had a franchise first baseman. At least one that you would deem all-star caliber. Not since the Lance Berkman and Jeff Bagwell days. Many people in the organization believe A.J. Reed is special and he has thrived at every level he has played in. Obviously being successful in the Major Leagues is a lot tougher than any lower levels of baseball so for now A.J. Reed is still a question mark.

2. At third base, can Luis Valbuena hit for a much better batting average and get on base a lot more often? Despite Valbuena's power (25 home runs) and knack for hitting big home runs in 2015 he still struggled at the plate. Hitting .224 with a .310 on-base percentage over 430+ at-bats just isn't good enough from a premium offensive position. I will say this though, and this is probably why he's still the starter at third base going into this season, Luis Valbuena played well defensively on the hot corner. Much better than I had anticipated when the Astros first acquired him from the Chicago Cubs prior to last season.

There were too many games last year when the Astros received absolutely "zero production" out of third base and first base. Which is why they parted ways with first baseman Chris Carter this past off-season. Another guy with nice power (24 home runs) who hit only .199 and didn't get on base very often.

Other than a couple of questions I have going into spring training, and I think most fans who follow this team closely fell the same way, I think the 2016 Houston Astros are going to be exciting and fun to watch. They should improve upon last year's wild-card winning success if they can stay healthy. That's the only thing that can derail this young and talented team from ultimately becoming a World Series champion. Key injuries, especially to their best players.

Also on the MLB Network it was just reported that the Astros are close to a multi-year contract extension with Dallas Keuchel. They had just given him a hefty pay raise to $7.2 million in arbitration a few weeks ago, which was an MLB record, as he went from making $540,000 to $7.2 million. Obviously Dallas Keuchel deserves to be paid among the best pitchers in the league. He just won the 2015 AL Cy Young award this past year, was the all-star starter and had a phenomenal year. If anybody deserves big money right now it's him.

Certainly, the Astros have to spend big money, sooner or later, if they want to keep all of their young talent around for the long haul. Thankfully they don't have to do so right now if they don't want to because a lot of them are still under club control for multiple years. But I think it's a good sign that the Astros front office is willing to reward a guy like Dallas Keuchel. It will show the other young players that if you play well you will make your big money here in Houston.

I'm bracing myself for when Carlos Correa is in position to make "young A-Rod type of money" as that's the player he's often compared to at the shortstop position. But coming off a tremendous rookie season in 2015, and only entering his second season, we don't have to worry about that anytime soon.