Alright arm chair Dana Browns. Let’s get to work. How do you handle the off-season?

Good morning all,

Now that the season comes to a close. It's time to focus on 2024. Luckily for us, we don't have too many big decisions to make. Dusty Baker has his contract set to expire and he will likely retire. Dana Brown has hinted at Walt Weiss and Eric Young Sr. as possible next managers. Joe Espada has been the bench coach waiting for his chance to be manager. Where do you want to see the Astros go for manager?

Next we have roster decisions. The following players are set to enter free agency.

Michael Brantley

Phil Maton

Hector Neris

Ryne Stanek

Martin Maldonado

Personally, I think Brantley and Maldonado will retire. If not. I would let them walk. Brantley just looked fatigued down the stretch. Not sure how much juice he has left. Maldy has been a net negative player. I'd like to see Neris and Maton return. However, they will likely receive more luxurious offers elsewhere.

The bright side? We will have a plethora of SP next season.

Verlander, Framber, Javier, Urquidy, France, Brown will be back. Lance and Garcia will also return from injury. That gives us 8 arms. Spencer Arrigheti is also waiting in the minors. We can't have a starting rotation of 8 players. So either France will have to move to the bullpen as a longman. Or Brown will have to cash in one or two of these guys to make room.

The bullpen will likely need some help. If Neris, Stanek and Maton walk. I'd expect Brown to make moves on some free agents or look for some trades. If Souza is the truth he will have a role next year. I don't expect Crane to open up the checkbook to lure Josh Hader. Nor do I see Hader willing to be a 7th-8th inning guy. I'd guess guys like Jorge Lopez or Shintaro Funjinami to get looks. Or possibly enter the trade market to find value.

For the offense. Everything should look well.

Catcher

Yainer Diaz and Salazar. Diaz is a young stud and will likely be the every day starter. The question is who backs him up. I would like to see Brown explore bringing in another vet to back him up. Yan Gomes would be my preferred option. But the likes of Gomes and Grandal will likely look to be starters somewhere.

1st Base

Jose Abreu will be back. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off and avoid the slow start. I'd expect Singleton to be on the roster to back him up.

Second Base

Jose Altuve will be entering his last season. Hopefully the team can work on an extension until 2026.

Shortstop

A conversation will need to be had about Jeremy Pena. His OPS was lower than Martin Maldonados in the post season. I don't think even consider trading him. Just likely work on things in the off-season. I think he came in too bulky and he got tired in the second half

Third Base

Alex Bregman like Altuve will be a free agent after 2024. I'd expect another short term extension to be offered for him.

Right Field

Kyle Tucker is going to be an Astro until 2025. Even with this terrible post-season he is a MVP level player. I'd like to see him get a 6 year extension to keep him around. I don't even consider trading him to "reload the farm" or anything like that. He is too valuable of a player and will be difficult to replace

Center Field

Chas has proven to be a MLB starter worthy of an every day player. However Dusty has shown many times that he is not willing to commit to that. I think he is better off in LF because of his arm strength. Dubon was solid for us this year. But at times he looks uncomfortable in CF with a lot of awkward runs to track the ball down. I'd love to see the Astros enter the trade market and find some speed in CF.

Left Field

Yordan, nothing needs to be said here. I'd like to see him platoon at LF/DH with Chas next year to keep his legs fresh.

DH

See above

Utility

Dubon is about as solid as you can get for a utility guy. SS, 2B, OF, he can touch it all. I'd love to see him stay but I have a feeling the Astros will get a lot of phone calls to see if he is availible. If he is traded, it could fetch us some bullpen pieces.

Kessinger isn't too bad for a backup SS. He will likely retain his role.

Jake Meyers. A long fall from grace since the 2021 injury. I'd expect him to be shopped around. Dusty really wanted him to be the every day CF. Because of his defense and the potential to make contact. He will likely be wanted by other teams. I don't think he has too much trade value. But I think he can be exchanged for bullpen piece.

I'm not expecting any big splashes this off-season. If they call Cody Bellinger I'm sure he hangs up because he will likely never want to play here. Conforto is another piece that should looked at too. He is a nice LH bat that can slot into any OF position.

I don't even think we enter the Ohtani sweepstakes. But we can all dream.

To summarize. I think the off-season starts with the manager hire. If we get a slam dunk that can excite the franchise. We can start talking about a World Series next year. Then some minor moves can be made to upgrade the roster. I'd love to see some speed added to the roster as well.