Astros taking a massive risk in 2025 by not addressing key roster need this offseason

The Houston Astros have been extremely busy this offseason, to put it bluntly. Kyle Tucker is gone and every indication is that Alex Bregman will follow him, barring something truly wild happening. The Astros will have a new first baseman in Christian Walker, and Isaac Paredes will be another new face across the diamond from him. However, one area that remains extremely speculative is the Astros' rotation.

With Justin Verlander still a free agent and Yusei Kikuchi leaving to join the Angels, Houston's starting staff is in a weird place at the moment. Framber Valdez is likely to return (although that is not certain) along with Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti.

This group performed reasonably well last year, but everyone outside of Valdez is far from a sure thing going into 2025.

Complicating matters, the Astros seem like they may be tapped out payroll-wise this offseason, and the internal options to fill out the 2025 rotation come armed with even more question marks.

Astros' internal rotation replacements have upside, but possibly even more risk

On paper, Houston has a number of guys that could start meaningful games for them next season. Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. both have plenty of experience in the rotation (and experience performing under pressure), and the newly acquired Hayden Wesneski has some starting experience as well.

However, Astros fans are extremely aware that both Garcia and McCullers Jr.'s health is anything but certain. Garcia had Tommy John surgery in 2023 and had multiple setbacks during his recovery that cost him all of 2024. McCullers Jr. is an even more severe case, as he has had a litany of injury issues, to the point where no one really knows what he will look like once he finally returns. Wesneski has made a handful of starts, is a fun hometown story, and Houston told him he would be starter, but only a third of his big league appearances have come in that role.

The good news is that Dana Brown always seems to be on the lookout for pitching depth, and one of the big talking points he shared at the Winter Meetings was that the Astros remain motivated to add arms. While the free agent market may not be the best source, given guys' current insane asking prices, Houston could easily still strike a trade for rotation help this offseason.

As things stand, fans better hope that the Astros do something to address their pitching depth the rest of the way, because the group they currently have is looking very, very iffy.

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