Category: Houston Astros
3 reasons why: Astros will win the World Series
As the 2016 season approaches, I will be taking a look at the 10 teams with the best odds of winning the World Series and examining three reasons why each team may ultimately hoist the trophy. Today’s team:
Astros (18/1 odds to win World Series): Two years ago George Springer was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with a headline that said, “Your 2017 World Series Champs.” The Astros are certainly capable of winning the World Series in 2017, but they’ll be capable of winning it all in 2016 as well. Houston utilized a wealth of young talent in 2015 to register a winning season for the first time since 2008 and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2005. In 2016, the team looks poised to take another step forward.
Young roster: No team wants to string together six straight losing seasons the way the Astros did from 2009-14, but the team made the most of the situation by acquiring plenty of young talent. Most notably, the Astros selected Carlos Correa with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 Draft. But the team also selected George Springer and Lance McCullers in 2012. Not to mention, they hit the jackpot selecting Dallas Keuchel in the seventh round of the 2009 Draft.
2015 carryover: The Astros struggled a bit down the stretch, going 37-34 in the second half and 11-16 in September. However, playing meaningful baseball late in the season wasn’t something the Astros were used to. But having gone through that in 2015, the club will be better equipped to handle the late-season grind in 2016. Learning how to win a championship is a process and the Astros took a big step last season.
Correa, Altuve, Gomez: Strong teams are built up the middle and it’s hard to get much better up the middle than the Astros. Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and Carlos Gomez make up a pretty good trio and should provide Houston with plenty of highlight reel plays in 2016. Correa, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year Award winner, proved that he’s ready to handle life in the Majors. Over 99 games, the 21-year old hit. 279 with 22 homers and 68 RBIs. Altuve has been an All-Star three of the last four seasons and has 200 or more hits in each of the last two seasons. Gomez struggled a bit once he was traded, but that could simply be a sign of pressing to try and impress his new team. Gomez will enter 2016 acclimated with Houston, and playing in a hitter-friendly park may help him return to being an All-Star caliber player. Throw Gold Glove Award winner Dallas Keuchel in the mix every fifth day as well and it sure looks like a winning formula.
10 Things I’m Watching In 2015: American League West
As we count down to Spring Training, here’s the sixth installment of my ’10 Things I’m Watching In 2015′ series. Today’s topic: the American League West.
Ultimately the Angels ran away with the AL West in 2014, but things could be very different this time around. Yes, the Angels have another great squad, but several AL West teams made big moves over the off season and it looks as if this may be the best division in baseball. The NL Central will rival the AL West for that title, but either way the race out West will be fun to watch and will likely come down to the season’s final days.
Angels:
After posting a 98 win season in 2014, it was not all that surprising that the Angels didn’t go out and completely retool their roster over the off season. The Angels 2015 lineup will look a lot like the one that ended the 2014 season.
A healthy Garrett Richards will be a welcomed face to the rotation, but it also looks like the Angels may start the season without Josh Hamilton.
Although the Angels didn’t make a ton of big moves over the off season, the team did trade Howie Kendrick to the Dodgers, so second base will be a position to watch both offensively and defensively.
A’s:
The A’s got off to a strong start last season and looked like they would easily win the division, but ultimately struggled down the stretch.The late season collapse was followed by a whirlwind of an off season and now the 2015 season will begin with an Oakland roster that hardly resembles that of 2014.
Across the infield the A’s began 2014 with Brandon Moss, Eric Sogard, Jed Lowrie and Josh Donaldson, but this season the projected Opening Day lineup consists of Ike Davis, Ben Zobrist, Marcus Semien and Brett Lawrie, with Billy Butler at DH.
Billy Beane completely changed the makeup of the team over the off season, but the A’s have been to the playoffs in three consecutive seasons so it’s hard to count them out.
Also, it’s important to note that the Athletics will once again feature a strong pitching staff – a fact that will keep them in a lot of games.
Despite losing Jon Lester (not that anyone thought he’d resign or stay in Oakland) and trading away Jeff Samardzija, the A’s will still have a rotation that consists of Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Jesse Chavez, Jesse Hahn and Drew Pomeranz.
Oakland’s rotation may be impressive, but it might not even be the best in the division.
Mariners: With arguably the best pitcher in the American League in Felix Hernandez, it’s quite possible the Mariners have the best rotation as well. Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma are a nasty 1-2 punch and will win the Mariners in a lot of games.
While the pitching was there last season, Seattle often struggled to score runs in 2014 – a problem the teams hopes will be solved with the addition of Nelson Cruz.
Cruz hit 40 home runs a season ago and will make the top of the Mariners line-up, along with Austin Jackson and Robinson Cano, a lot more potent than it was just a season ago.
Astros: Just as the A’s made several changes, so did the Astros. The 2015 Astros will look a lot different than the 2014 version – including new manager A.J. Hinch – and appear to be in a much better position to compete.
To bolster the offense, the Astros added Evan Gattis, but most of the reshuffling happened in the bullpen as the Astros added Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek.
Gregerson and Neshek – both right-handers – are coming off some of the best seasons in their careers. Gregorson posted a career-best 2.12 ERA last season while Neshek posted a 1.87 ERA and was selected to his first All Star game.
Jed Lowrie will also be a nice addition to the middle of the infield as he returns to Houston after a productive two seasons in Oakland.
Rangers: Every team deal with injuries, but the amount the Rangers faced last season was crazy.
First and foremost Rangers fans have to be excited about starting 2015 with a healthy Prince Fielder. That fact alone should be a boost to the offense, but regaining Fielder is not the only significant move the Rangers have made.
Late in the off season the Rangers made perhaps their most significant off season move when they traded for Yovani Gallardo.
Gallardo figured to fit into the middle of the Rangers rotation and has started 30 or more games in six straight seasons – a good sign for a team that has struggled with injures and had a hard time keeping players on the field.
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