The Houston Astros are World Series champions -- and in the midst of an all-time great run. Can anything stop this juggernaut from repeating?
Houston has a ton of free agents and questions looming among its leadership. But it's fair to wonder if any of that will even matter, given the team's depth.
Here's what's next for the Astros -- from those notable free agents to the three biggest questions the franchise faces heading into next season and beyond.
Houston Astros
Notable free agents: SP Justin Verlander (option), OF Michael Brantley, C Christian Vazquez, DH Trey Mancini, RP Rafael Montero, RP Will Smith (option), C Martin Maldonado, INF/OF Aledmys Diaz, 1B Yuli Gurriel, C Jason Castro
It's quite a list, and there are some familiar names here, led by future Hall of Famer Verlander. But the thing is, the Astros could lose this entire list of players and be just fine. They'd have to do something about the catching position in particular, but they could figure that out. This isn't an observation about these players. It's one about how solid the foundation is for this organization.
Trade candidates: RP Hector Neris, RP Ryne Stanek, RP Phil Maton
Well, we wouldn't want to leave this section blank. Cycling through relievers who are under control for only a year or two is one way to iterate a roster. However, the Astros are in position to trade or not trade from a position of strength. If a deal doesn't clearly improve a hard-to-improve roster, they simply don't have to make it.
Extension candidates: SP Framber Valdez, OF Kyle Tucker, SP Cristian Javier, SS Jeremy Pena
Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve are under contract through 2024. While both could certainly hang around longer than that and become career Astros, it's not too early to start securing those who will populate the top of the roster along with Yordan Alvarez during the next era of Astros baseball.
1. Who will be calling the shots in the front office?
The contract of GM James Click is up now that the Astros' season is over. Since he took over the team in less-than-ideal circumstances back in 2020, all it's done is win and move toward greater efficiency. While from the outside, it's hard to parse what was in place when Click took over and what tweaks he's made, the bottom line is that it's worked, especially on the pitching side of the operation. That situation is summed up best like this: Houston may well lose a Cy Young winner in Verlander to free agency, and whether that happens will have only a marginal impact on the Astros' outlook for 2023.
Perhaps Click could have been a little more aggressive around the trade deadline. If he had been, maybe the Astros would have won even more than the 106 games they did in 2022. It seems fantastic that the Astros would even consider looking elsewhere, but as always with head-scratching situations like this, the best evidence that Houston is considering a change is the fact that an extension hasn't already been worked out. If Jim Crane does decide he can do better, Click will be unemployed for about five minutes.
2. Who will be calling the shots in the dugout?
Dusty Baker has already told reporters in Houston that he wants to be back in 2023 for what would be his 26th year as a big league manager. A return would mean Baker is all but sure to become the ninth person to manage at least 4,000 games and could move as high as sixth on the all-time managerial win list. With the championship, Baker's managerial résumé is complete.
Baker will turn 74 next season but somehow has managed to seem anything but out of touch during his tenure in Houston. Still, eventually, enough is enough and hopefully it will be Baker's call as to when that is the case. One factor he might consider is that if he hangs it up after the playoffs, he'd be eligible for Hall of Fame consideration during the 2023 winter meetings, leading to a possible induction as a manager in 2024. Otherwise, the soonest he could be considered would be 2026. That assumes, of course, he is not still managing.
3. How aggressively will the roster be made over?
The answer to this question is tied directly to the answer to the first. However, we know how the preamble to the answer should read: The Astros aren't going anywhere. Sorry, haters. Houston has lineup-foundation producers Alvarez, Tucker, Pena, Bregman and Altuve all under contract or team control through at least the 2024 season. The Astros have several spots in the lineup around that core in which they could look to churn some talent, though it seems like a return by injured outfielder/DH Brantley would be part of the plan.
The rotation is stocked with young talent, and closer Ryan Pressly has a couple of seasons left on his deal. The hard stuff is already done, and a creative GM can fill in the blanks with this high-ceiling core in place. With Verlander perhaps departing and the other free agents coming off the books, the Astros will have money to spend, whether through free agency or through a splashy trade. There are a number of paths Click or a possible successor could take with this group, and all of them are pretty much good.