The A's punctuated the beginning of their September push with a resounding bag full of Warner Brothers' Acme sound effects. The A's chased Yu Darvish in the rubber game of a pivotal three-game set against the Rangers by laying heavy on the boom! and bam! buttons, crushing two home runs against him and four overall, depositing twelve hits in an 11-4 Roadrunner-flattens-the-Coyote victory.
The A's and Rangers now have identical 80-59 records atop the AL West with 23 games left. The two teams play one final three-game set against one another September 13th through 15th. Other than that anxious trip to the land of giant belt buckles, the A's get 20 games against the bottom feeders of the American League. Starting with penciling another chapter in the dismal story of the Houston Astros.
Far removed from the days of the Killer B's of Bagwell and Biggio, and eight years removed from their last playoff berth (a World Series sweep against THAT White Sox team,) the Astros have been mired in a rebuilding effort which has produced two 105-plus loss seasons in a row. If they do not post a winning record over their last 23 games, that streak will extend to three.
However, baseball's parity train has chugged its way through many a city of loveable losers this year. The Pirates are guaranteed their first winning season since the very beginning of the Clinton administration, the Royals are fighting to get just their second winning season in that same time span, and the AL wild card race is chock full of underdogs (Baltimore, Cleveland, the suddenly lovable New York Yankees.) With the Rangers giving the Dallas/Fort Worth area a positive outlet to manage the Tony Romo-stress-disorder blues, can Houston bring a second winning team to the Lone Star State?
Can the 2016 Astros successfully mimic the low-budget wizardry of the 2013 Athletics?
The A's model consists of home-grown arms, savvy free-agent acquisitions, and position players who fit into their roles like a square peg that has been carved to fit in a round hole. The Astros are in line to be the first team in Major League history to garner the first pick in three straight MLB drafts, and have shown moderate signs of life under Bo Porter which indicate that the future has some light, maybe a plant or two, and perhaps some water.
Jason Castro, when healthy, is a very good backstop. He hits for average, and should be given a macaroni and glitter-flecked award for handling a young pitching staff in constant flux. Chris Carter was an absolute beast in his platoon role at first base with the A's last year, and has proceeded to tear the cover off the ball in Houston, leading the team with 27 home runs and 73 RBIs.
Jose Altuve's 4 year, $12.5 million deal is a sign of some investment in a positive direction at Minute Maid, even if the solid average and A- speed of Altuve is offset by a lack of a power tool and a .248 average for the season with runners in scoring position. Each of the Astros' big young pitching chips at the MLB level (Bud Norris, Jarred Cosart, Lucas Harrell) has a mortal flaw at this stage of their game which precludes them from being legitimate game-changers , such as Harrell's .99 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 137.2 innings (80 walks against just 79 K's.)
So, with all this in mind, can the Astros embark on a quick, smart, and fan base-energizing rebuilding process, putting them in position to be a low-budget darling like the Athletics three years from now? In a word, probably not. Other than perhaps Chris Carter (who's treading in Adam Dunn territory early, batting .220 this season,) the Astros current MLB roster is chock full of bit players who would fight for spot number 24 or 25 on a majority of big league rosters. Also, baseball is not basketball or football in the fact that there are very very VERY few sure things in the draft. Having so many high draft picks means a load of expectations, but ask the Royals if that always pays off.
The only way the Astros can emulate the success of low-budget teams such as the A's and Rays is to develop their scouting on both a draft and trade level in such a way, that they find impact OPS and pitch-count eating bats that impact their particular position with high efficiency. Also, from a pitching standpoint, they need to find a quality veteran arm or two in the mid-level of the free agent market (umm, Barry Zito? :shudder:) that can serve as both examples and on-field coaches for the bevy of young arms both currently on the squad and coming up from the minors.
If they can do this, and general Jeff Luhnow brings some of the magic that was present when he was vice president of player scouting and development for the Cardinals from 2006-2011, then the Astros can contend as early as three years from now. But, as it looks now, the only thing most casual fans will be able to recall in relation to the Astros in the near future is that weird ramp thingamajig in center field.
All of this being said, the A's need to be careful not to expedite the positive aspects of the Astros' growing process over these next four days. Despite a 12-3 record against the worst team in baseball, the A's lost their last series against Houston two games to one by sputtering horrifically at the plate.
Game 1 is tomorrow night at 10:05 EST, with electric rookie Sonny Gray (2-2) taking the ball for the A's against former Athletic Brad Peacock (3-5.)
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