Astros Championship Foundation Built With Incredible 2015 MLB Draft

The Houston Astros have been the gold bearer in baseball for nearly a decade at this point.

They have made the postseason eight straight years and advanced to the ALCS in seven consecutive before being defeated by the Detroit Tigers last year in the ALWC.

Sustaining that level of success is not an easy thing to do, especially in the current state of baseball with players constantly being on the move in free agency or via trade.

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The Astros had their fair share of departures in offseasons, losing several key homegrown stars over the years but always having a plan on how to replace the production that was being lost.

A big reason they have been performing at such a high level for as long as they have been is that they have successfully identified and developed young talent they land in the MLB draft.

One of their most impressive hauls came in 2015, when they were awarded the No. 2 pick because of Brady Aiken not signing the year prior, to go along with their No. 5 overall selection.

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They landed LSU Tigers star Alex Bregman with the second pick before adding Kyle Tucker fifth. 

Both players turned into stars, helping build the foundation of the franchise for years to come and leading to Houston being recognized as having the best overall draft.

“They crushed it by taking Bregman and Tucker with the second and fifth picks, plus eight others who made the majors, including Myles Straw and Patrick Sandoval. Indeed, while Bregman currently has about 17 more career WAR than Tucker, given that Tucker is three years younger, he might end up as the best player in this draft,” wrote David Schoenfield of ESPN.

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In addition to the four aforementioned players, the Astros also came away with Dez Cameron, who was a key part of the trade package to land Justin Verlander from the Detroit Tigers in 2017, which kickstarted their dynasty.

Having three first-round picks, there was some pressure to get as much value as possible.

The Houston regime could not have done much better than they did, selecting two All-Stars and using a third player to bring in a future Hall of Fame starting pitcher to anchor the staff.

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It was a home run draft and the praise from Schoenfield was warranted, as Tucker was turned into Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski and Cam Smith this past winter in a trade with the Chicago Cubs, a year ahead of hitting free agency.

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