OFFSEASON IS NOW IN SEASON
As Astros celebrate, other teams already have turned the page
LOS ANGELES — The Astros gathered Thursday morning in the lobby of their downtown hotel, still weary and hung over but still animatedly talking about the most magical moment of their baseball careers.
Outfielder George Springer, the most valuable player of the World Series, huddled with his parents and fiancée, making plans for the parade Friday. Right- hander Justin Verlander was slipping out the side door to the parking garage with his fiancée, telling his teammates he wished he could join them, but he had a wedding to attend in Italy.
His own. He’s marrying model Kate Upton.
‘‘ Just don’t cry,’’ reliever Luke Gregerson told him.
Four days after arriving in Los Angeles empty- handed, the Astros finally left in four tour buses bound for the airport and a flight to Houston, taking along a nice little souvenir they picked up along the way. A World Series trophy. ‘‘ Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?’’ Springer said.
The 2017 season will live forever in Astros history. But even before they had a chance to check out of their hotel, the baseball world subtly reminded them this is a new season.
It’s the Hot Stove, where everyone has begun preparations to unseat the Astros in 2018, with 149 players filing for free agency and the American League West rival Angels making sure All- Star outfielder Justin Upton wasn’t one of them, signing him to a five- year, $ 106 million contract.
There are 29 teams that want to go where the Astros ventured, the latest team to extinguish a World Series drought, 56 years in the making. The Astros followed the Cubs, who ended their 108- year curse last season, and the Royals, who won their first title since 1985 the season before.
We still have the Indians, who haven’t won the World Series since 1954 and, of course, the Mariners, Rangers, Rockies, Nationals, Padres and Rays, who never have won it.
If you listen to the Astros, who extended the Dodgers’ championship drought to 29 years, they plan to make this an annual affair.
‘‘ We’re built to go to the playoffs multiple times,’’ Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said.
Still, as the Cubs and Indians showed this season, that’s much easier said than done. The Dodgers have won five consecutive National League West titles, and only this season did they reach the World Series. The Yankees have two years left before this becomes the first decade they fail to reach the World Series in the last century.
It promises to be a fascinating winter, from finding a manager for the Yankees, a general manager for the Braves, a home for Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, starting pitching for the Cubs, a closer for the Cardinals, a home- run hitter for the Giants and patience for the Nationals.
This still will be known as the calm before the storm, with the 2018 free- agent class featuring Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, probably Clayton Kershaw and perhaps David Price, but this one still might be a doozy.
Yu Darvish, crumbled by the enormous pressure in the World Series, joins 2015 NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta as the top starters on the free- agent market, each of whom will command at least $ 125 million. Wade Davis of the Cubs and Greg Holland of the Rockies highlight the market for closers. Reliever Brandon Morrow of the Dodgers might receive the most lucrative deal for a non- closer. Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain of the Royals, J. D. Martinez of the Diamondbacks and Jay Bruce of the Indians headline the powerhitting market.
There will be plenty of trades, too, with general managers getting together at their annual meetings Nov. 13 in Orlando, Florida, and no team will be more popular than the Marlins. They could be this offseason’s version of the White Sox, who dumped ace left- hander Chris Sale and outfielder Adam Eaton last offseason and lefthander Jose Quintana, closer David Robertson and third baseman Todd Frazier during the season in their wholesale rebuild.
You want an All- Star, Derek Jeter has one for you, with virtually his entire team on the trading block, highlighted by outfielders Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna.
Let the offseason begin, even though the Astros spent the day after celebrating.
‘‘ We’re on top of the world, and we plan to stay here for a while,’’ left- hander Dallas Keuchel said.