The current state of Houston Sports going into 2020

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Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman | Houston Sports (Photo by Cooper Neill/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

An Astro lost in space

Ignore the noise, accept negativity and play angry

I’m not going to lie. I’m struggling with this one. It seems like when I write about something to hype the Astros up, something negative happens. Check out my last three entries and you’ll see why.

But I really don’t want to write about the Astros right now because obviously, I’m pretty ticked off with what’s surrounding them right now. To have a major accomplishment surrounded by a cloud of shame and ridicule in more ways than one is just frustrating. I mean, what more can I say about the team except for the fact they got questions to answer about the integrity of the organization.

It’s embarrassing to be an Astros fan at this point. Sure, you have fans that are defending them saying everyone does it. But this is just too much. Obviously, the team has put themselves on the level of the Patriots aside from having one title. I’m pretty upset with this and I don’t know what to really think about what they’re facing.

At some point, the storm clouds will fade away and maybe time will freshen things up to where they can get back to as close to normal if possible or not. Maybe not since casual fans will go with what the narrative says! But for now, the Astros have to accept the fact they are going to have to put on a black hat instead of a white hat.

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Aside from that, and the Yankees getting Gerrit Cole, the Astros still have a strong core returning to the team. They are among the favorites to win the World Series in 2020 for the time being. But it’s going to take a mindsight of trying to ignore the noise and redeeming themselves from the difficult loss to the Nationals. The question is can they be able to overcome everything on them and get back there. That’s something they need to work out.

Not only that, the rest of the American League West seems to be getting closer. Former Lamar High School athlete Anthony Rendon signed with the Angels while Corey Kluber is now a Texas Ranger. Oakland will still be a threat while the Mariners look to build on to a long climb to the top. So the chances of a fourth-straight 100-win season seem unlikely.

The Astros are getting Justin Verlander back to the helm as well as Lance McCullers Jr., who is returning from his Tommy John surgery. The wild card of the pitching staff will be Zack Greinke. He struggled in his first couple of starts but managed to slowly get better till he pitched the best game of his life in Game 7 of the World Series only to have it denied by the Nationals’ comeback. Can he duplicate that start and more in 2020? Time will tell.

We said goodbye to Jake Marisnick, who was dealt to the New York Mets for prospects, who I’m curious to see how they’ll turn out. We might say goodbye to Carlos Correa as he was mentioned as a possible trade piece for the team. The Astros do want to keep their run of excellence going and they will try to fill out the holes needed to keep their team sustainable.

All the while, reputations are taking a hit and they will have to endure a season or two or three of criticisms (fair or unfair). I’ve seen teams of mine encounter situations like this and it isn’t fun. Still, the team has to deal with the consequences depending on how severe the punishment is. Should it take away from the season we had? No, but it will be tough to convince the naysayers who are kicking the horse around.

But if they can ignore all that, take whatever abuse comes there way, and play a season yearning to get back to the World Series to redeem themselves from last year, then we could hopefully be looking at another title. So yes, the team has to play angry and not only because they lost the World Series.

Epilogue

Ultimately, we’ll look back on this time as a test of the character of each of the teams in Houston

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Sports. Every one of the players is capable of overcoming adversity as proven in the past. But are they able to get out of the box of limitations and go from really good to beyond great? Can they somehow walk the walk to back up their talk? Will winning another title, and doing it the right way, be enough to shut up the haters and prove we won fair and square? That’s what we would like to have on our Christmas list.

As Houstonians and Houston Sports fans, we have taken some unfair but deserving criticisms. But how our teams respond to them is a question we’ll have to figure out. I’m still convinced all three teams will get more titles soon. For now, we can only envision what 2020 brings and hope that in the end, more good comes from it than bad.

Next. Weighing the pros and cons of being a Houston Sports fan. dark

We can be disappointed all we want. But let’s not let the teams down by not caring. No organization in any sport is perfect. Let’s show our teams that we support them and love them through the good and bad. It’s tough times for the franchises striving to be the best. But the storm clouds will come to an end and the sun will come out soon.

Until then, Merry Christmas Houston Sports fans and here’s to 2020.

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