Major Additons: Brian McCann, Josh Reddick, Carlos Beltran, Nori Aoki, Charlie Morton
Major Losses: Jason Castro, Luis Valbuena, Colby Rasmus, Pat Neshek, Doug Fister
Strengths: Offense, Youth, Bullpen
Weaknesses: Rotation
Potential Breakout Stars: Alex Bregman, Yulieski Gurriel, A.J. Reed, David Paulino, Michael Feliz
Look at the major additions. Compare them to the losses. Throw in that last year's roster was very young and all those potential breakout stars, and you have the team in the best position to challenge the Indians for the AL crown. In my opinion, this is the best offense in baseball. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are an All Star, potentially even MVP, double play combination up the middle, while 2015 first round pick Alex Bregman would be an early candidate for AL Rookie of the Year had he had 88 fewer plate appearances last season. George Springer, Nori Aoki, and Josh Reddick make for a quality outfield, and Carlos Beltran should get some reps out there as well when he's not DHing. That may be often, because the trade for Brian McCann will force Evan Gattis to DH as well. With Yulieski Gurriel, A.J. Reed, and Tyler White fighting for the first base job, you know you will get a quality bat there, and we still have said nothing on bench bats Preston Tucker, Teoscar Hernandez, Colin Moran, Jake Marisnick, and Marwin Gonzalez. A plethora of hitting prospects, most notably Derek Fisher and Ramon Laureano, already populate the high minors and could be ready this year. There is so much depth to this lineup that they could bat 15 instead of nine and still have no problems. When one of Aoki, Beltran, Reddick, and Gattis will have to be on the bench at all times, you know you are doing something right. The rotation is a weak spot right now, but it doesn't have to be, especially if Dallas Keuchel (4.55 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) bounces back to his 2015 form that won the AL Cy Young Award (2.48 ERA, 1.02 WHIP). Collin McHugh could be anything between his 2014 (2.73 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) and his 2016 (4.34 ERA, 1.41 WHIP) self, and Charlie Morton and Mike Fiers are question marks of the same size. Two young hurlers to watch are Lance McCullers and Joe Musgrove. McCullers has missed time to injury, but he put up the same solid ERA, 3.22, in 2015 and 2016. Musgrove doesn't through very hard, but he has dominated the minors over the past three seasons (26-6, 2.43 ERA, 0.97 WHIP) and was solid in his MLB debut in 2016 (4.06 ERA, 1.21 WHIP). In the bullpen, Ken Giles will hope to bounce back from a tough 2016 (4.11 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), but having Will Harris (2.25 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) and Luke Gregerson (3.28 ERA, 0.97 WHIP) to support Giles is a big boost. Chris Devenski (2.16 ERA, 0.91 WHIP) was also a big surprise last season. However, after those four, James Hoyt and Tony Sipp come attached with question marks, and the rest of the bullpen lacks experience all together. A pair of top prospects, Michael Feliz and David Paulino, as well as lesser-known prospect Brady Rodgers, are currently slotted in the bullpen but could start if need be. Another top prospect, Jandel Gustave, could help support. Overall, the game plan for Houston is simple: hit and hit and hit, and pitch just enough that they can win slugfests. If Keuchel and McHugh bounce back, and McCullers and Musgrove continue their success, this could be a very, very dangerous team.
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