Houston Astros: Three reasons why the team’s window won’t close soon

From the Hunter to the Hunted

When the season ended, everyone started to scramble. There was a question as to who was going to make the biggest splash of the season. Well that answer arrived a week or so later and to no one surprise, the Yankees had to go get Giancarlo Stanton.

Yes, the Yankees. The team we beat to reach the World Series in seven games. That team who was supposed to be in a rebuilding year with the rookie of the year. You add Stanton with Aaron Judge, it’s going to be the 21st-century version of the Bash Brothers. Not the Mighty Ducks crew. I’m talking about Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. You add Aaron Boone as the manager, the Yankees will be probably the favorites to win it all in 2018.

Lessons that needed to be Learned

Should we be scared of the Yankees? No! But do we think they’re going to be the team that could knock us off and derail our chances to repeat? Absolutely. My feeling is that the ALCS will be a rematch of 2017. The worse case scenario is that we go to play in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. That certainly didn’t help us out in 2017. But the moves the Yankees made are a reminder that we are the hunted.

Every team will be coming to try and knock us off the throne just like every team was shooting for the Cubs in 2016. You can’t overlook the Angels, Red Sox, Indians, and Mariners just to name a few teams that are going to be threats. Even the Rangers are looking to knock us off. It’s going to be painful at times for we’ll play teams that we’ve beaten in 2017 that will give us better games in 2018 and they could win.

Of course, a factor that should also be considered is a World Series hangover. The Cubs felt that. The Royals felt that. Every team that wins a World Series will certainly feel that. What are the chances that we’ll feel that? There’s a good chance. But as long as we don’t get off to a bad start like in 2016, we should be fine. We just need to remind ourselves 2017 is done and 2018 is here.

So how do we counter all of these things?

 We got better too

Yes, we get better as well. Just when it was safe to proclaim the Yankees as automatic champs, the Astros made a big move by signing Gerrit Cole. Of course, Cole has had a few injury-plagued seasons, but when healthy, he’s a dangerous force. It was unfortunate that the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t get more talent to make them true contenders. So he comes to a team that is a top-two AL squad.

Yes, we even added a few guys to our bullpen, that until Game 7 of the World Series was off-the-wall on a roller coaster ride. Of course, I think we could use another bat in the lineup. I know that Carlos Gonzalez was talked about for a while. So maybe he would be of good use.

But in hindsight, we will be the targets. Everyone’s quest will be to knock off the Houston Astros and win the World Series. The 2018 season will end with one of three results.

Three Results

1. The Astros become the Undertaker and repeat as World Series champions while burying all 29 other teams.
2. One of the other 29 teams will become Brock Lesnar and end a winning streak.
3. Through a combined effort, all 29 teams will toast in success as the Astros are removed from the throne. Dilly Dilly they’ll say.

So in the end, one of these three options will take place. Here’s to hoping option 1 happens.

Dilly Dilly!

But there is one more factor that our window must consider.