Mettle of Houston Astros Front Office Going To Be Tested in Coming Months

The Houston Astros have turned into the gold standard of what teams look to achieve for nearly the last decade.

They entered the 2025 season winning the American League West in seven consecutive 162-game campaigns. Their seven-year streak of advancing to the ALCS was snapped last year by the Detroit Tigers and their former manager, A.J. Hinch, in the ALWC.

The Astros have made the postseason in eight consecutive years and nine out of the last 10, but are going to be challenged in keeping that streak alive.

They are off to a tough start, going 8-10 out of the gate. The AL West has been a lot more competitive than many people predicted it would be, as they are tied with the Athletics for the worst record in the division.

Slow starts are nothing new for Houston, who has been entering the end of April with a losing record the last few years.

Given the talent on their roster, a turnaround once the weather starts to heat up certainly isn’t out of the question.

The Astros have a dominant one-two punch atop their rotation with Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown. Hayden Wesneski is an emerging middle-of-the-rotation arm.

Josh Hader looks as good as ever anchoring the bullpen as the closer. Steven Okert, Bryan King and Ryan Gusto have been excellent as well.

Where Houston needs to figure things out is at the plate, where left fielder Jose Altuve, third baseman Isaac Paredes and designated hitter Yordan Alvarez are the only hitters with OPS+ numbers in the triple digits.

As a collective, the Astros have struggled to produce with several key contributors playing well below their accustomed levels.

In some instances, such as with shortstop Jeremy Pena, bad luck has plagued him. In others, with catcher Yainer Diaz and first baseman Christian Walker, they are just not playing up to expectations yet.

Everyone knew it would be a challenge to replace homegrown stars Alex Bregman and right fielder Kyle Tucker, who signed with the Boston Red Sox and was traded to the Chicago Cubs, respectively.

The pressure is on the front office to usher in a new era, led by general manager Dana Brown, who has excelled at keeping the Major League roster competitive but at the cost of organizational depth.

“Brown – owner Jim Crane’s third GM during this run – has done a good job propping up the big-league roster, but there could be trouble ahead. Houston placed 29th (ahead of only the Angels) on Keith Law’s farm system rankings, and could lose ace Framber Valdez to free agency this winter,” wrote Tyler Kepner of The Athletic (subscription required) in a recent piece ranking the front offices around the league.

Brown deserves a lot of credit for keeping the Astros as contenders for as long as they have been. That is as big of a reason as any that they are tied for 13th in these rankings with the Texas Rangers.

It is the same spot they held last year, giving Brown an opportunity to prove his worth navigating the crossroad the franchise has reached.

Will Valdez be the latest homegrown star to depart the franchise? Brown looks ready to assume the role as ace, but there isn’t any help on the way internally to replace him in the rotation.

Things could certainly take a step back before they begin to improve, as a soft reset could be in order in the near future.