Houston Astros Ranked 15th By ESPN

Jul 9, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Houston Astros center fielder George Springer (4) celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

With Spring Training right around the corner, ESPN has been producing the Spring Rankings for the upcoming season. It’s no secret that Astros fans assumed to be at the bottom of the list the last few seasons, but when Rankings 30-25 were posted, it was nice seeing them NOT on the list. Of course seeing the Rangers ranked on Day 1 was nice to see as well.

When the Day 2 rankings came out for 24-19, I fully expected the Astros to be listed somewhere in there as the national media hasn’t been too kind to Houston during “The Process.” But to my surprise, they were not listed. Instead, we saw teams like the Yankees, Rays, and Marlins round out this list.

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Finally, on Day 3 the Astros were on the list. But even then it surprised me to see how far up they were ranked. They were ranked above the Royals, A’s, and Padres! Now the guy who produced the rankings is also the same one who said that the Astros would be the surprise team of the year, but it was still nice seeing the national media give the Astros a little respect.

At 15th, they’re predicted to finish 83-79, their first winning record since 2008, and finish in 3rd Place in the AL West. It’s also good enough for them to finish tied with the Tigers for 7th overall in the AL, just two spots outside of that magical 5th spot for the final Wild Card.

David Schoenfield had a lot of good things to say about the Astros and it’s definitely worth a read. All we await now is to see the records of the final six members to be listed in the AL: the Angels, Mariners, Indians, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Red Sox. It’ll be interesting to see how far the Astros record has them out of the playoffs based on his rankings.

Do you agree with Schoenfield’s rankings of the Astros? Are they too low, or are they ranked too high to where you feel like they’re destined to disappoint? Please let us know. And finally, if you missed it, make sure to see me take it one step further from my prediction from December.