Houston Astros: Three reasons why the team’s window won’t close soon
The Houston Astros will begin 2018 as the defending World Series champions for the first time in franchise history. The better news is that they’ll have a team to contend with for years to come. The only question is how long will the team have to contend with their window being open?
On November 1, 2017, my dream of seeing my favorite baseball team, the Houston Astros win a World Series championship came true. As I sat there in my hotel room watching it all unfold, I could’ve already planned out for retirement. But time has flown by and I suddenly realize the Houston Astros have a window that is wide open. We have a legitimate chance to do something even more special than winning just one title.
Look through the window and what do you see?
You might’ve seen this article while scrolling around. I just saw it today and it got me to thinking. Not only are the Houston Astros among the pantheon of teams that are winners of the Fall Classic, but there is a chance that they can win at least one, two, or maybe three more titles to become a dynasty.
Slow down Einstein!
I know! I know! It’s too soon to think of it that way. We need to take it one day at a time. But seriously, this team is suddenly on the cusp of possibly being one of the best teams in all of baseball. We got a great young core in Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, and George Springer. Our pitching rotation of Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, and Gerrit Cole plus Lance McCullers Jr. and Charlie Morton is perhaps the most intimidating as of right now. There’s a good chance that the 2018 Houston Astros might be better than 2017.
Here’s the thing though. We’re probably never going to catch the Yankees, Cardinals, Red Sox, or Giants as far as championships are concerned for as long as we’re on earth. The Yankee fans that lived from 1923-2009 to see all their championships should be considered fortunate and we should tip our caps to them. But I don’t think Houston will win 26 championships from here on out.
Yet, this time right now is what we’ve waited for. This time after three seasons of 100-loss years, we’re going to relive the late-90s and the mid-2000’s when the Houston Astros were dangerously good. Even better, we’re the World Champions.
What Could Go Wrong?
Like every sports team, we’re always going to say this is the year. It’s a lottery! Whoever wins the lottery won’t know they won it until it happens to them. So we won the lottery in 2017. The question is will we bet it all on another title or two. However, we have to consider factors that could stop us from having another one.
There are the usual suspects.
- Health
- Negotiations
- Bad years
We’re going to have trials and tribulations over the next few years. Players will get hurt and miss time. Not everyone will be on the team the following season. Even the best players will have some down seasons. So those are the three usual suspects or red herrings as I like to call them.
However, there are other factors that should play a part in this matter. So as not to give you any suspense of how I’m approaching this, I’m going to keep it the way I write my essays. Three factors, all with legitimate points and reasons just to support my argument. But the suspense I’m giving you is for y’all to think about these points. So without further or due, let’s see what are the missing factors that could play out for the next few seasons.