The Winding Door at SS

We all pretty much know that sooner rather than later, the MLB offseason will be shortly creeping on us. Our season will come to a close and we'll look at and review our season as a whole and take from it what we can.

As most Astros fan's are, including myself, so far this year we have been severly dissapointed. Coming off of last years magical run in the second half where we posted a winning record, I thought this year we would be putting a winning team on the field. I wasn't expecting an elite team to march out there every night, but a team on the grow, learning to play like a team instead of individuals.

But shortly after the season had started this year, I can ultimately say I was let down, partially for the fact I was running off of a high of last years second half run.

Some key reasons for this include -

• Our pitching staff has failed to live up to expectations. Most notably Brett Myers, JA Happ, and also Nelson Figueroa.



• Our bullpen has been in shambles for a large part of the season. (This makes me regret the trade of Matt Lindstrom)



• Our offense, although improved, has failed in some regards. Among them, Chris Johnson, the season ending injury to Jason Castro, and the regression of Brett Wallace from his early success to start the season.

Putting that all behind us, there have been some bright spots this year.

• The emergence of Bud Norris as our second ace, complimenting Wandy Rodriguez very well.



• Finding our future closer in Mark Melancon



• The first half successes of both Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence, and the hauls they brought back to us (especially Pence) when they were traded at the deadline.



• The discovery of Jose Altuve, JD Martinez, Jimmy Parades, and Jordan Lyles, who are more than holding their own in their short stays so far in the Big Show.

These are just a few of the bright spots, and at the end of the season I will go further in depth on the pros and cons of this year. And for now, these are just the ones off of the top of my head.

As for what this post was originally written, I will start that now!

I personally believe that going into this offseason our top priority should be to resign Clint Barmes. I think this is because, unless we trade Wandy Rodriguez and/or Brett Myers and are left a hole in our staff, that resigning our current SS is top priority.

I say this for two simple reasons.

• 1) Because we have no viable replacement that is ready to replace him. (I don't count Angel Sanchez because I don't consider him to be an everyday starter)



• 2) The free agent market has some marquis names on it at SS (Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins) and ones on the block perhaps (Hanley Ramirez), but considering how much they would cost in money, or in terms of prospects leaves these ideas out the window, as it wouldn't make much sense to make a commitment to a player, giving a 12 million to 15 million multiyear deal, when we are more than just 1 piece away.

So I believe these are the reasons resigning Clint Barmes is top priority.

Tommorow, we will hypothetically assume that we don't resign Clint Barmes, and we will go into detail on what other shortstops will be on the market.

Stay Tuned!