They now have 10 rookies on their current 25-man roster, after Teoscar Hernandez was called up recently, with a few more likely on the way up when the September 1 call ups arrive. It's hard to keep track of all of these guys. I haven't seen a youth movement like this since 1990. They are actually the third youngest team in baseball and appear to be in rebuilding mode. When just a month ago they had played their way back to only 2.5 games out of first place in the AL West and had some playoff aspirations.

To their credit, they have a winning record at 61-57 right now, despite going 7-13 in their last 20 games. ESPN.com had recently rated the Astros minor league system the third best in baseball behind the Brewers and Yankees. Although I'm not sure how they figure that when we already traded away a ton of prospects last year and then called up another handful this year.

We had the toughest schedule in baseball the final two months of the season.
A lot of games against the Rangers and Blue Jays (we lost most of those).
We're 2-11 against the Rangers this year. We went 2-5 against the Blue Jays.

And we have four games at Baltimore and three games at Pittsburgh, on our next 7-game road trip.
We still play the Cubs, Indians, Rangers six more times, and a red-hot Mariners team as well. Along with the Cardinals tonight.

So needless to say our chances to make the playoffs, even one of the two wild-card spots, were slim to none.

Perhaps that tough schedule played into our thinking of "going young" rather than trading a lot of our prospects at the trading deadline. Even though I would argue that it was tough to see this year wasted. But considering we had a 7-17 month in April and got off to a very slow start this season just to have a winning record is good I guess.

We had three very bad stretches of 7-17, 4-11 and 7-13 (currently). So to be 61-57 isn't as bad as it could be.

Joe Musgrove gives me a lot of hope through these tough times. He displays pinpoint location.

Out of those 10 rookies the Astros have right now, I'm most impressed with starting pitcher Joe Musgrove.
1-0 with a 1.47 ERA in his 18.1 innings. With 21 strikeouts and 2 walks. He has excellent command for a youngster.

Even when he gets himself into a tough jam he's able to throw the ball where he wants to.
Most young pitchers can't do that under pressure. It's nice to see a guy with ice-cold veins.

And all of his appearances so far have been against top offenses (Blue Jays twice and Rangers). He's facing elite hitters.
He picked up a tough luck no decision against Yu Darvish and the Rangers. Extra innings game that I had went to.

Joe Musgrove's next start is Thursday Night at Baltimore. Yet another stacked offensive team he will face.
He was the pitching prospect that most teams were after when the Astros were trying to make a trade.

Maybe we can do something good in free agency this winter. I would splurge on a big bat or two.
Our top priority has to be offense. We have a good and young starting rotation and bullpen.
I'm excited about a Lance McCullers and Joe Musgrove 1-2 punch at the top...

We had signed Yulieski Gurriel to 5 years and $47.5 million, who should be called up soon, and I think he will play third base for us. With Alex Bregman making the full-time move from third base to left field. Edwin Encarnacion, who turns 34 in January and just dominated our pitching recently with multiple tape-measure homers, could be an ideal free agent target for us this winter as a full-time DH if we decide to make him a crazy rich offer. We need slugging hitters like that in the middle of our lineup to further compliment Springer, Bregman, Altuve and Correa.

Our two highest-paid players, Colby Rasmus ($16m) and Carlos Gomez (9m) will surely not be re-signed.
That's a combined $25 million in salary that they were making this year. Thankfully they're both gone soon.
Neither was any good and had both sucked to say the least. Rasmus was hitting .211 and Gomez was hitting .210.

We already parted ways with Gomez (DFA'd) and no other team has even shown any interest in picking him up.

TL:DR version - I'm just getting my Houston Astros fix in. I've been too disappointed to post about them that much lately.
But I can tell you that I'm ready for free agency this winter. Looking ahead to 2017, and beyond, there is a lot to like about this team.

The toughest part is being patient with so many good young players. I just feel like we're always "waiting and hoping."
Sure, we're in a better position than a lot of other young teams but I want to win some World Series rings.
We don't seem any closer to doing that. It's tough being a fan of a team that has never won a World Series.

Nice work Ryan

Tldr needs a tldr

What gives me hope is the fact that they can solve their biggest weaknesses in free agency this winter. The core of the team is quite strong and competitive. Their starting pitching, in particular, is young and talented. Their bullpen has several youngsters under club control as well.

The Astros team ERA this year (starting rotation and bullpen combined) is 3.83, third best in the American League, behind only the Blue Jays and Indians. We'd have probably been #1 right now if not for a "spanking" that the Tigers gave us at Detroit a few weekends ago. They had tattooed us for 14 runs and 11 runs in two of the games.

But if you watch the Astros play closely like I do, you would know that pitching hasn't been the problem.

Lance McCullers and Joe Musgrove are the future of our starting rotation.
Those two young phenoms give me a lot of hope. They have to stay healthy.
Lance McCullers will be cleared to throw next week. His latest elbow injury gave us all a scare.

Jose Altuve may win the 2016 AL MVP which I will cherish and appreciate. Just like I did when Jeff Bagwell won the 1994 NL MVP.

It's a pretty good young team, and one that may be able to win the AL West division title in the next year or two, but only if they can find a way to improve the middle of their batting order. Our lineup still leaves a lot to be desired which is frustrating to watch.

We leave too many runners on base. In particular, our 5-6-7-8-9 hitters have hit for a very low batting average all year long. I think I saw a stat the other day showing that the Astros' 5-through-9 hitters were ranked last in all of baseball this year in batting average, on-base percentage and runs scored. That's the area we have to greatly improve.

1-2-3-4 we're "A-okay" with Springer, Bregman, Altuve and Correa. I know the rookie Bregman has had a rough go of it at the plate so far but he just had an 8-game hitting streak snapped. He's been hitting much better in the 2-spot (.265) as oppose to the 6-spot (.050). The kid will eventually hit, he has a quick bat swing, but he just needs time to adjust to Major League pitching.

But one or two improvements in that middle-of-the-lineup area can transform us into a legitimate contender and force in the American League for the next few years at least. We're so close to taking that next step but it hasn't happened yet. I think we can live with a poor 7-8-9 if we had a reliable 5 and 6 hitter to at least make our lineup go six players deep.

The Astros haven't won a division title since 2001 when they had won the NL Central.
We will go into 2017, having gone sixteen long years, without winning a division...
That's just way too long. We've already had enough time to adjust to the American League.

But we will see what happens. I'm going to enjoy the rest of this season.
Free agency this winter will be huge for us. I can't wait for November and December.
What we lack right now we can go out and spend big money for in three months from now.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Aug 16 2016 03:57pm

I think we should be aggressive and make Edwin Encarnacion a lucrative offer he can't refuse the first day of free agency. But I'll discuss that when the time comes. It's too early right now and I don't want to be found guilty of tampering or anything.

But if it's up to me our lineup would look a little something like this next year.

1. George Springer RF
2. Alex Bregman LF
3. Jose Altuve 2B
4. Carlos Correa SS
5. Edwin Encarnacion DH
6. Yulieski Gurriel 3B
7. A.J. Reed or Tyler White 1B (one of them need to take charge)
8. Evan Gattis C
9. Jake Marisnick CF

I notice Edwin Encarnacion is playing first base for the Toronto Blue Jays tonight.
He's an ideal free agent target for us because we need an offensive upgrade at both DH and 1B.

But you have to weigh the fact he turns 34 years old soon.
He's looking for his last rich multi-year contract. It may take a 5 or 6-year deal, at a ridiculous price, to land him.

I think the Astros or Red Sox would be pretty ballsy to out-bid the Blue Jays for an aging Edwin Encarnacion this winter.

Maybe we could even chase Yoenis Cespedes for center field.
He's going to be the biggest free agent hitter on the market.

In a dream world, the Astros will sign both Edwin Encarnacion and Yoenis Cespedes this winter. Back up the truck to the bank, baby! And then it will be "look out AL West in 2017" because even the first-place Texas Rangers lineup wouldn't look as good as ours.

But in all seriousness, I think we can make a pretty good run at Edwin Encarnacion. I think the Red Sox will be our biggest threat.

LOL, I think I can fix our problem in center field with Wesley Snipes, aka Willie Mays Hayes.



But like I said, the Astros may be rebuilding on the surface with so many rookies on their current roster, but it's a team that can compete for the playoffs with just a few upgrades to the middle of their lineup. The good thing is they don't have to chase any pitching this winter.

It's a lot harder to find good young pitching than it is a solid veteran hitter or two, IMO.

The Astros are in a good spot right now. The problem is we have to be patient.
If I could make today the start of the MLB free agency and hot stove league I would. I'm ready for it!

LOL

I thought all of last year that it was just a fluke, but a sign of things possibly to come