Bleacher Report’s grade for the Astros should have fans nodding in agreement

Signing Tatsuya Imai was the surprising jolt that the Houston Astros needed this offseason. There remain questions over how the team will move forward, given their limited payroll space, and they are still in need of a backup catcher and clearing the infield logjam, but Imai's arrival does alter the conversation that has been surrounding Houston this winter.

Bleacher Report's 2025 grades for each MLB franchise were completed before the Astros signed Imai, and the grade for Houston is proof of that. The Astros walked away from 2025 with a "D", as Kerry Miller pointed to the team missing the postseason and a silent offseason as the reason for the low grade.

2025 was a low year for the Astros, and Tatsuya Imai's arrival may have provided a band-aid

To be clear, Imai is no sure thing. One of the reasons why the Astros were able to sign him is that other teams didn't believe he was capable of turning into a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. Otherwise, the 27-year-old starting pitcher would likely be making his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers instead of the Astros.

Along those lines, if Imai's signing does prove to be a mistake this coming season, that likely signals the end of Dana Brown's tenure as the team's general manager.

In closing the book on 2025, Brown is to blame for the team's low grade. Even when things were going right for the Astros during the first half of the season last year, it was clear that the team needed to stabilize their rotation at the deadline. Not only did Brown not address that need, but he also took on Carlos Correa's contract, and the gamble on Jesús Sánchez appears to be a failure.

Brown's decisions backed Houston into the corner they were in at the start of the offseason. And for the first time in his tenure, the general manager couldn't fall back on the idea that the Astros were still a playoff team. Perhaps signing Imai on the first day of 2026 is a sign of brighter days ahead. But there is still plenty of mess from 2025 that needs to be cleaned up.