Astros Still A -300 Favorite To Make The Playoffs

It’s been an ugly offseason for the Houston Astros, who have been busted in a sign-stealing incident that led to the firing of their manager and general manager. While the players got off suspension-free (or punishment-free), many are wondering what is in store for this roster in 2020? BetOnline has posted make/miss playoff props for all of the teams on the board and the Astros are up at -300 to make the postseason. Will they make the cut?

WILL THE HOUSTON ASTROS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS IN 2020?

YES -300
NO +250

ASTROS ROSTER STILL LOADED

It’s hard to argue with the Astros making the playoffs because they return their entire lineup intact. We’re talking about a team that finished first in OPS, third in home runs and third in runs scored. Not only is this team of year-over-year consistency rare (the lack of changes), the expected growth is unprecedented too. This lineup could get better as a guy like Yordan Alvarez should take another step forward. Meanwhile, they already have American League MVP runner-up Alex Bregman and a slew of other good hitters like Carlos Correia, Jose Altuve, George Springer, Yuli Gurriel and more.

The questions with this team come in two areas: starting pitching and manager. Dusty Baker takes over as the manager of the team but can he push the right buttons? Losing Hinch was a much but it will have a big impact on this team in 2020.

As far as the pitching goes, they could be excellent again as they still have Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke. However, if Greinke isn’t a true No. 2 or slips a bit, and youngster Lance McCullers Jr. can’t handle the No. 3 or No. 4 roll after missing all of last season (surgery), there will be some holes.

HOW GOOD IS THE REST OF THE WEST?

We know that the other teams in the West should be improved but it’s unclear if anyone has really closed the gap on the Astros. This is a team that won 107 games last season and won the American League West by 10 games. The Oakland Athletics won 97 games last season and return plenty of power with guys like Khris Davis, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Mark Canha and Marcus Semien. However, they were a cut below the Astros; have they closed the gap?

And what about the Los Angeles Angels? They lost Shohei Ohtani for most of last season but will bring him back along with the additions of Anthony Rendon. Is Rendon, Mike Trout, Andrelton Simmons and Tommy La Stella enough to get this team to a winning season?

As for the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers, both teams appear to be rebuilding. However, they only won 68 and 72 games, respectively, so maybe they improve slightly. The Mariners aren’t likely to really challenge for much this year but the Rangers are intriguing. They added a lot of pitching with the acquisition of Corey Kluber, Jordan Lyles and Kyle Gibson. With Mike Minor – an All-Star last year – and Lance Lynn, this all of the sudden becomes a fairly decent rotation.

The challenge here is that everyone outside of the A’s is a work in progress. As long as Baker knows how to manage this team and the cheating scandal isn’t too much of a distraction, the Astros should win this division and get back to the playoffs. Even if they don’t win the division, a Wild Card berth is still likely as they shouldn’t completely fall off the map.

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