Houston Astros 2012 Offseason Recap and Preview

I think this next image pretty well descirbes the Astros’ 2011 season, no? (even if it is fr0m 2004):

Grade: C+

Notable Additions:

Jed Lowrie, Jack Cust, Chris Snyder, and Kyle Weiland.

Notable Subtractions:

Mark Melancon, and Clint Barmes.

Why?: Let me get one thing clear. I know the Astros are not in the AL West yet, but I think it’s better that I make transition now, because it just makes my life slightly easiser to have 15 teams in each league and 5 teams in each division. Secondly, I know the “Notable” names aren’t that notable, because I lowered my standards for the category especially for the Astros and they haven’t had much happening this offseason.

The Astros aren’t exactly an offensive power house. So I like their improvements on that front, but their most feared hitter is still Carlos, which doesn’t doom the lineup, but makes it less imposing than 90% of the other lineups in MLB.  Long gone are the days of the Astros contending for the even the NL Central (at times the weakest division in the league), much less contending  for the World Series as they did in 2005. It also doesn’t help that they are moving into the most improved division of 2011. Unless there is an extreme shift in culture, they may be lucky to win a division title before 2020.

I think I’ve covered the bases, right? The Astros stink, and they didn’t do much in the offseason.

Predicted Record Range: 60-65 wins

Up Next: In my last post, I put up a poll for what division you want next. You voted for the NL Central, for whatever reason. So, here is a poll of which team I should write about in said division: