Astros need to learn a lesson from the Dodgers in order to fix injury woes

There's a strong belief that, if not for injuries, the 2025 season would have gone much differently for the Houston Astros. That's not necessarily incorrect, either. Still, injuries are a part of the game, and in the Astros' case, they certainly exacerbated their own plight.

It might seem like over the last couple of years, and especially in 2025, Houston was the most injured team in the entire league. Facts don't care about feelings, though, and in terms of actual days lost to the IL, no one has had it worse over the last three years than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yes, those Dodgers. The very same Dodgers who won the 2024 World Series and are primed to win their second straight if they can handle the Toronto Blue Jays.

How is it that the Dodgers, who lost both of their aces, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, for a large chunk of 2025, have been even more battered and bruised than the Astros, yet have had remarkably better fortunes? Perhaps there's something the Astros need to learn from LA.

Astros need to take a page out of the Dodgers' book if they want to overcome injuries once and for all

What is the main difference between the Dodgers and the Astros? Depth. Depth at every level. We can talk about bench players like Mauricio Dubón versus Miguel Rojas, but it's deeper than that.

The Dodgers have built a system where, even when a star goes down, there's a constellation of others waiting to pick up the slack. On top of that, LA has built up one of the best farm systems in the game. The Astros have been light on draft capital in recent years thanks to the sign-stealing scandal penalties, but the Dodgers have been picking very late in the draft and losing picks due to signing qualifying offer free agents for years.

The difference is that Los Angeles has been a major player in the international market (both professional and amateur, Asia and Latin America) while also building up top-notch player development infrastructure. Houston? Not so much.

The Astros' stubbornness has put a ton of pressure on their stars. Just look at what happened without Yordan Alvarez for much of the year. The club ranked 15th in slugging (.399), 17th in homers (182), and 21st in runs scored (686) with the three-time All-Star unable to shoulder the load for the vast majority of the year.

The Astros aren't the Dodgers as far as finances are concerned, though, so what more can they really do? A whole lot more, that's what. Los Angeles invested 73% of their 2024 revenue on 2025 payroll and luxury tax obligations. The Astros? Well, owner Jim Crane treats the tax line like an impenetrable force field. That said, only 48.5% of Houston's $494 million 2024 revenue got put back into the product in the field, ranking 14th.

For what it's worth, only six teams had higher revenues than the Astros in 2024. Maybe instead of trading Kyle Tucker away and letting Alex Bregman walk because they don't fit the budget, the Astros start ponying up like the rest of the big boys. It's not hard to imagine it being much easier to survive Alvarez's injuries with Tucker and Bregman to turn to to carry the lineup.

So if you hear Houston's brass talking about saying goodbye to a free agent like Framber Valdez because of budget constraints this winter, just remember that it's not true. The Astros may have a budget, yes, but that's not because it's all they can spend, but rather because they'd prefer some juicier profits.

If they refuse to adjust their spending to build up their depth, then they can't lean on the injury crutch to excuse away failures. Injuries are a part of the game, and Houston has got to start planning for that.