Astros living in the past gives fans 'Uncle Rico' vibes and could endanger future success

Are the Astros living like Uncle Rico? In the past?

Jon Gries fictional character in 2004’s Napoleon Dynamite became legendary. Largely it’s because he was so relatable. How many of us have friends or family who are living in the past? Before you answer, consider that our professional baseball club over on Crawford Street might be the poster child. We just need to pull up Uncle Rico’s orange van up front and summon over Orbit to take photo ops.

Consider the following:

2022 is a lifetime ago in baseball circles. Even within the Lone Star State, the Rangers have won more recently. Not to mention that the Dodgers believe they’ll be completing a three peat this fall which would cement their dynasty for generations.

Since that 2022 championship season, the Astros have lost Game 7 of the ALCS in 2023, lost in the Wild Card round in 2025, and failed to make the playoffs on the grounds of losing a tiebreaker last season. Despite that clear trajectory downward, the team has not made significant moves to really improve the team to it's 2022 levels the past two seasons while acting like the division title is their right.

It would seem the Houston Astros have decided they are willing to make the compromise that being good enough may be good enough. They can claim the "window is open" even if it's barely open a crack.

There are over 60 pitchers presently with more wins than Peter Lambert. Can you truly be an elite team without an ace? Three of those pitchers reside in the Pacific Northwest. Gilbert, Woo and Kirby with the Mariners trump anything the Astros can deal. The Astros are 12th in the AL in ERA, and 24th in MLB. Their starters' ERA is actually 28th in MLB, second to last in the AL. For the second straight year, the Astros chose not to get pitching at the trade deadline.

The Chicago Cubs have comfortably scored more than 100 more runs this season than Houston. Even with Yordan’s season, there’s a wide discrepancy. The Astros are 12th in MLB in runs scored, 4th in the AL. However, it is clear the difference between the Astros offense and the elite offenses in baseball on teams with real World Series aspirations.

To varying degrees, we all bargain in life and compromise. This is especially true with our sports teams. Will reaching the playoffs be enough? How about advancing out of the first round? What I’ve described is what the Houston Texans have flaunted for a quarter century. Their divisional title banners hanging from the rafters. Is that what’s next for the Orange & Blue?

The check engine light is on and unfortunately there’s no permanent GM at the helm to even replace the wipers on Uncle Rico’s van parked out front.

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It would seem the Houston Astros have decided they are willing to make the compromise that being good enough may be good enough. They can claim the "window is open" even if it's barely open a crack.

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