Astros: What would happen if Houston misses playoffs?

What would happen if the Houston Astros collapse and miss the playoffs?

If you’re a Houston sports fan, you’re no stranger to having your heart broken in the playoffs. Whether it’s the many excruciating defeats in Astros history, the many failures of the Rockets, the near misses from the Oilers or the comic ineptitude of the Texans, we’ve pretty much seen it all. That leads me to wonder if we’re set up for another disappointment this year.

The Astros have been in strong position to make the playoffs despite the fact that they aren’t winning the AL West and have been largely mediocre. But the way they’ve been playing for most of this month makes me wonder if they’re going to completely collapse and miss the postseason altogether.

They haven’t clinched anything yet, and their failure to put the Mariners away is giving me some serious heartburn. At least they won on Tuesday, meaning they can clinch today with a win and an Angels loss, but it’s not over until it’s over.

The biggest culprit right now is the offense, and there’s no excuse for that. Everyone except Yordan Alvarez is healthy, with the exception of Yuli Gurriel’s nagging hand injury. Yet they’re struggling mightily to score runs, and if they don’t get off the schneid, they could find themselves on the outside looking in when October starts.

Consequences of a Collapse

For one, the rest of the baseball world would probably be drunk on schadenfreude. The Astros haters, with their false narratives and their glass houses, would take great joy in watching this team miss the playoffs, preaching about karma (as if karma has anything to do with it). That alone would be insufferable.

Beyond that, if the offense doesn’t get out of the mud, I would think hitting coaches Alex Cintron and Troy Snitker would be on the hot seat. There’s simply no excuse for a lineup this talented to struggle this badly. I would particularly be happy to see Cintron go, as he’s shown himself incapable of behaving like a coach is supposed to.

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Manager Dusty Baker would probably be brought back, as the team already picked up his option for 2021, and it’s not his fault the lineup can’t hit its way out of a wet paper bag. But of course the biggest thing to watch will be how such a terrible ending to the season will impact the front office’s plans for the 2021 team and whether key free agents will want to return.

George Springer is the big fish, of course, and Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel are important as well. Gurriel has said he wants to return, while Springer has essentially dodged the question every time he’s been asked. If he decides it’s time to move on, and the Astros don’t show any signs of life late in the season, would the front office be willing to go all in for 2021?

There are valid arguments for trying to contend next year, and there are similarly valid arguments for punting on 2021 and retooling for 2022. If the Astros make the playoffs and put up a respectable showing, it may be easier to try and win next year. But if they continue to look listless, maybe GM James Click would decide it’s better to restock the farm system and try again a year later.

The Astros are coming to a crossroads, so what they do in these final few days of the season and in October (if they make it) will weigh heavily on how the franchise will operate these next couple of years. If they collapse, there could be some big changes coming, and we could miss out on more than just the 2020 postseason.