The Houston Astros are heading into an offseason with a lot of holes and not much room for comfort. After a year that went far worse than expected, the roster looks thin in too many places to ignore.
The biggest problem sits right at the top of the pitching staff. Hunter Brown has not developed into the ace the Astros needed, and that showed in a brutal way when he was forced out in the first inning of the elimination game against the Chicago White Sox. Even if the club is unwilling to pay the kind of money it would take to land Tarik Skubal, it still has to add at least one or two more arms to support Brown, Peter Lambert and Hayden Wesneski.
Lambert and Wesneski mattered more than anyone could have reasonably expected, and without both of them stepping up, the Astros could have finished far below .500. That kind of dependence is exactly why the rotation needs serious work.
There are some options that make more sense than chasing the biggest name on the market. Veteran Kevin Gausman and Casey Mize are two possibilities the front office could explore, and both would likely come at a lower cost than Skubal. Gausman is aging, while Mize struggled after being traded to the San Diego Padres.
The bullpen also needs a reset. Bryan King and Bennett Sousa were far outside the coaching staff’s circle of trust, and neither held up when it mattered. Both struggled badly in the playoffs, and each posted ERAs well over 7.00 over their final 15 regular-season games.
The Astros’ outfield was another dead spot. The rotating cast out there never provided offense, no matter who was in the lineup, and the deadline move that sent Spencer Arrighetti away for Gold Glove center fielder Daulton Varsho did not solve that issue. Varsho is a strong defender, but he has been an offensive liability this season, so making a run at him again would not really address the problem.
Since joining his new team, Varsho has put up a .535 OPS and has been batting well under .200. Houston needs middle-of-the-order help, and he does not fit that need.
In the end, this is a team that needs help almost everywhere. If the new general manager, whoever that turns out to be, does not treat this offseason with urgency, 2027 could end up looking even worse than this season did.
In Other News...
Astros Trade Looks Different After What Pittsburgh Got Out Of It
The trade that sent Brandon Lowe, Mason Montgomery and Jake Mangum to Pittsburgh is starting to look a lot different now that the Pirates have had time to sort through what they got. Lowe brought the biggest name value, coming off a season with 35 home runs and better work in the field, while Montgomery quickly established himself as a late-inning weapon with 18 saves down the stretch. Mangum, meanwhile, filled in as useful center field depth when injuries piled up.
For Houston, the deal was always going to be judged in part by how the other side fit together, and Pittsburgh has clearly gotten production from all three pieces. Lowe is headed for free agency, which only adds another layer to how the move is viewed, but Montgomery is the real long-term piece here since he remains under team control through 2030. That gives the Pirates a different kind of value than a one-season rental, and it is the sort of return that can change the way a trade is remembered. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Face One Obvious Option Call And One Tougher Choice
With the Astros still operating without a general manager, one of the first offseason decisions on the table is straightforward enough: whether to pick up Isaac Paredes club option for 2027. After a strong 2026 season in which he hit 25 homers and batted .262, the third baseman looks like the kind of productive everyday piece Houston would prefer to keep in place, especially at a $13.4 million price point that sits well below what that kind of output usually costs on the market.
The tougher call comes with right-hander Ryan Weiss, whose $5 million option asks Houston to decide whether there is enough upside to justify more runway. Weiss struggled with a high ERA and WHIP at both the major league and minor league levels, which makes the choice less about certainty than about whether the Astros see a rebound worth investing in. For a club trying to sort out its next steps without a front office leader in place, the contrast between those two options says plenty about how much work still needs to be done. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Left Field Problem Looks Even Worse After One Former Move
The Astros left field search never really found an answer this season, and Dustin Harris ended up becoming another reminder of how unsettled that spot was. After brief stints with the White Sox and Houston, the outfielder resurfaced with San Diego and looked much more comfortable there, flashing better all-around play while giving the Padres another useful option in a crowded outfield mix.
What makes it sting for Houston is not just that Harris settled in elsewhere, but that his improvement came while the Astros continued to cycle through possibilities and never solidify the position. San Diego benefited from the depth, Houston did not, and the gap showed up in the standings as the Astros fell short of the playoffs with left field still lingering as one of the rosters biggest unresolved issues. [Read more 🡒]