I avoided writing about them in their 10-game win streak that took them from 8-7 to 18-7, and then avoided feeling bad about that when they promptly were swept at home by Texas, but following that they split a four-game set with the Angels, and have finished a full fifth of the season. This team is changing my expectations, but I would still be shocked if they end up with more than 85 wins. But more than anything, what I want the Astros to do is realize that they'll end up with 85 wins, and not do anything rash to get that to 90.
My dream season would be to see Springer improve as a 22-year old should, to see Marisnick continue to develop, to see Altuve continue to hit .330+, and to see this team just relatively play well. The 2011-2013 Astros were an embarrassment. True, that was partially by design, but even Jeff Luhnow has gone on record saying he didn't expect them to be that bad. But it is hard to say anything other than Luhnow's plan not working. It did, they are set well right now to be competitive and set even better for the future. It is just making sure they know the difference between now and the future, and now the right time to blend those two.
In the 2012 drat, the Astros took Carlos Correa with the first pick. At the time he was 17. He's still just 20. It was seen as the Astros passing on the consensus best player for a guy that had a top-5 grade, but could be paid less than the top guy on the board, Byron Buxton. This was not a sign of cheapness, but a calculated way for the Astros to then pay someone at the end of the 1st round more than his slot and get a better play. Weird thing, though, it turns out Carlos Correa is awesome.
As an 18 year old in Single A he hit .320, showed good patience (OBP over .400), and great fielding. Last year, as a 19-year old, in high-A, he hit .325, still showing good patience, and was on his way to an unbelievable year before breaking his leg on a slide. Now this year, as a 20-year old in Double A, he's batting .385, with an OPS of 1.185. These are not human numbers. He was promoted to AAA today, and there is a chance he's in the major's this year. That's faster than anticipated, but if it does happen, I don't want it to be because the team wants to squeeze out a few games.
The Astros achieved their goal of being relevant in 2015. They are not a laughingstock, they are a real team that should end up somewhere around .500. That is a huge step up and shows they are right on track. They still have the trump card of Correa, and a few other good cards in Top-100 prospects Mark Appel, Lance McCullers Jr., Vincent Velasquez, and Colin Moran, all in Double A. The Astros are loaded, they have the money that will come by playing in the #4 media market to eventually pay the good guys. Things are headed in the right direction, what they can't do now is make that panic trade, or more accurately make that greedy trade to try to steal a playoff spot this year. One playoff game that will surely end in a loss is not worth giving up any one of those guys. Getting to 88 games is really no better than 84. Jeff Luhnow preached the long game, that this was a long process. Sports Illustrated called them the 2017 World Series Champs. Just because 2015 is going better than expected does not mean they should change it up now. That time will come, for now it really is enjoying being relevant, with the knowledge that soon we won't have to worry about that for a long, long time.
