The Houston Astros have significantly upgraded their MLB roster this offseason via free agency and the trade market, and owner Jim Crane says general manager Jeff Luhnow is still working on more additions with two weeks until spring training.
"Jeff's still working on a few -- we're looking for a couple more players [to see] if we can make a couple more key additions," Crane said, via Richard Dean of MLB.com. "But we like the moves we've made, and I think the team's going to be very exciting this year -- a lot more competitive.
"We eventually want to win championships. I think this team has an opportunity to get to the playoffs, and we're expecting to get there."
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With AJ Hinch set to make his managerial debut for a team that went 70-92 last season, that may appears like high hopes on first glance. However, it's more due to the confidence Crane has in the moves made by the team this offseason.
"When you look at the moves that we've made," Crane said, "we lost a lot of games last year. We blew a lot of saves. We got two good additions to the bullpen [in Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek]. We brought in some more power on first and DH with [Evan] Gattis and certainly filled in at third [with Luis Valbuena] and short [with Jed Lowrie].
"When you look at the team, it doesn't look like it has as many holes as it did last year, so that's really exciting to see -- in every position, we've got a good Major League player. That's been the goal since we started rebuilding."
And, if he wasn't heard the first time, Crane reiterated that the current goal is a playoff berth in 2015.
"I think the team on paper, when you look at it, it looks pretty good," Crane said. "Now, the chemistry has to be there. We have a new [manager], but we expect to make the playoffs this year. That's my objective. That's always going to be the goal from here on in."
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