Astros could be back for more
HOUSTON » It’s not just one World Series title that has Houston excited. With Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer and more locked in for years to come, the Astros are ready to be a force for some time.
Houston’s plan to endure a difficult rebuild has put the team in a great position moving forward. No player in Houston’s starting lineup for Game 7 of the World Series will be free agent earlier than 2019.
Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel are under team control until 2023, and All-Star shortstop Correa can’t hit free agency until 2022. Springer, the World Series MVP, is under control through 2021, and promising young starter Lance McCullers Jr. is under team control until 2022. Altuve has teamfriendly club options for the next two seasons that will keep him in town through 2019 at least.
While everyone else is chasing highpriced free agents, Houston should be set, especially after acquiring ace Justin Verlander on Aug. 31 from the Detroit Tigers. Verlander is owed $56 million over the next two seasons combined before possibly becoming a free agent.
All of that was made possible by patience from owner Jim Crane and general manager Jeff Luhnow. The Astros were the laughingstock of baseball after trading away their veterans to shed payroll, losing 100 games every year from 2011-13, including a franchiseworst 51-111 mark in 2013.
With the losing came a bevy of high draft picks, and Houston hit big on a few of them. In Luhnow’s first draft in 2012, Houston took Correa with the first overall pick and nabbed McCullers at 41st overall. Then in 2015, they grabbed Bregman with the second overall pick.
They weren’t without their misses. Most notably Mark Appel, who they fa-