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Astros Could Be Stuck in Limbo With Their Current Mindset

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI | By Brad Wakai | Last updated Oct 14, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Houston Astros have been in a championship window since they won the World Series in 2017.

While the better part of the last decade resulted in one of the best dynasties the American League has ever seen, it also came a bit out of nowhere since the Astros were one of the worst teams in history during their teardown rebuilding phase that also saw them miss the playoffs in 2016.

But after everything fell into place during that historic year where they became MLB champions for the first time, the only thing the franchise has been focused on is bringing more hardware to Houston. That has resulted in their farm system getting depleted. And because the pipeline became a bit barren, they have not been able to find another core to replicate what they previously had in place.

Astros Still Not Ready To Fully Rebuild

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Following the sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers in the Wild Card round that ended their AL record-setting streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances, it would have been easy for the Astros to start a rebuild.

With Alex Bregman becoming a free agent and the contracts of Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez set to expire at the end of the 2025 season, hitting the reset button by getting young, talented players back into the organization could have been their approach.

Instead, while they did get back a nice return for Tucker, Houston opted to hold onto Valdez and gave another lucrative deal to an aging first baseman. Then at the trade deadline this year, they brought back Carlos Correa and his own expensive contract.

While it seemed like the Astros might look like geniuses for having their cake and eating it too when it came to resetting a bit while also still competing, things fell off the rails in the second half of the season and they missed the playoffs altogether.

The issue for Houston is that this franchise is not ready to admit they need an actual rebuild.

Astros Could Find Themselves in Limbo Real Soon

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Because of that, there's a good chance the Astros will be stuck in limbo for a while unless everything clicks for them once again. They need Cam Smith to become elite and they need Correa and Jose Altuve to turn back the clock. Yordan Alvarez and this pitching staff also have to stay healthy, and they need to find their past offensive prowess.

That's a lot of things that have to go right for Houston if they are going to regain their throne over the improving American League. And while it could happen, the chances of that taking place seems slim based on how much talent they have lost over the years without adequately backfilling the reserves.

So as the Astros enter the upcoming offseason where they have already made some major changes to the coaching staff and organization as a whole, it would not be surprising to see them operate in the same manner they have in the past when they were fully in the midst of their dynasty instead of planning for the future.