3 burning questions Astros are nowhere close to answering

The winds of change swept through Houston this offseason as the Houston Astros continued their process of bidding adieu to franchise icons in search of re-tooling the roster, trying to inject youth into a team whose farm system leaves a lot to be desired, while still trying to compete for another World Series title.

The balancing act is far from complete and is no easy feat. Gone are veteran stalwarts like Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, joining the ranks of George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Justin Verlander, among others, who were once key cogs in Astros championship runs.

Incoming are younger pieces and some interesting personnel shifts as the team tries to make the puzzle pieces fit in a way that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That has led to some pressing questions entering the 2025 season for which the team is still awaiting answers.

Sometimes an answer is so blatantly obvious that it jumps off the page in the early going, providing a sense of finality that can be comforting to anxious fans even if the answer is not in the affirmative. Most of the time, though, the passage of time is the biggest determining factor in the quest for answers.

However, Houston will need answers soon. They'll need to come up with plans to pivot should things not go according to expectations, well before the July 31st trade deadline. With that said, these are the three burning questions that must be answered.

Can Cam Smith and Isaac Paredes be satisfactory replacements for Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman?

The Astros knew they weren't going to be able to keep Kyle Tucker in the fold long-term. Initial contract projections had him looking at a deal in the $350 million range over 10 years, and in the months since the trade, the price tag for Tucker has only skyrocketed in the wake of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s shocking mega-extension.

The return the Astros got has been widely praised, but it might take some time that the Astros don't have for those benefits to come to fruition. Meanwhile, despite a valiant effort, the club lost the sweepstakes to keep Alex Bregman, emphasizing the need for Isaac Paredes to prove the analysts right, showing that he is, in fact, a picture-perfect fit for the Crawford Boxes.

Tucker and Bregman have both gotten off to torrid starts in their new digs, adding insult to injury. So far, Smith impressed enough in spring training to ascend to the big-league roster faster than anticipated, yet has failed to carry over that spring production to the regular season. Paredes, meanwhile, has yet to find his groove, and the .021 ISO he's put up through 12 games is concerning.

Time will tell if these two additions can do a passable job of filling the big shoes left behind by these key departures in 2025, but for the Astros' sake, that answer needs to come sooner rather than later.