3 former Houston Astros players we wish still played for the team

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While it's difficult to complain too much about a World Series championship, there were still some imperfections on the 2022 Houston Astros and there are arguably even more on the 2023 squad.

As the season opener against the Chicago White Sox on March 30th inches closer and closer, the Astros could certainly use some of their former players on the roster right about now. This becomes even more revalent once you take the injuries to Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley and Lance McCullers Jr. into account.

Let's take a look at 3 former Astros players we wish still played for the team.

We wish Brooks Raley was still on the Astros

This one is tough because while left-handed reliever Brooks Raley was on the Astros, he didn't look all that sharp. The former Cubs prospect came to Houston in 2020 as a 32-year-old failed starter and performed admirably in a 17-game showing that year, posting a 3.94 ERA and 115 ERA+ in 16 innings for the club.

Then, in 2021, he made a then-career-high 58 appearances and while he was an oft-used option, he didn't radiate much confidence on the mound and saw his numbers dip dramatically from the year before. In a total of 49 innings, Raley posted a 4.78 ERA with an ERA+ of 90, meaning he was 10 percent below league-average. His 3.27 FIP suggests that he may have gotten unlucky and saw some of his stats become skewed thanks to the defense behind him, though.

Last year, he made 60 appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays and emerged as a true weapon for them. He had a 2.68 ERA and 136 ERA+ in 53.2 innings of work, striking out 10.2 batters per nine innings and allowing just three home runs all year.

Raley is missed on the Astros primarily because of the fact that there are no left-handed relievers projected to make the Opening Day roster. With the recent demotion of Matt Gage, it seems that the club is going to roll with an all-right-handed bullpen to start the year. Someone of Raley's stature sure would look nice right about now.

Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees / Julio Aguilar/GettyImages

We wish George Springer was still on the Astros

It's been a few years since George Springer patrolled center field on an everyday basis for the Astros. Now on the Toronto Blue Jays, he has become a heavily relied upon piece just as he once was in Houston. The 33-year-old is the Jays' leadoff hitter and is coming off of a season in which he made the fourth All-Star Game of his career.

A player like Springer requires very little introductions to Astros fans. He began his big league playing days here and spent the first seven seasons of his career in Houston.

Along the way, he hit 174 home runs with a .270 average across a total of 795 games. In that time, he had a 131 OPS+, meaning he was 31 percent above league-average during these years. Not to mention he also made three All-Star Games, won a World Series, earned two Silver Slugger Awards and even played all 162 games back in 2016, an increasingly rare feat in today's game.

With the injury to Brantley putting a dent in the starting outfield for the Astros, Springer would sure look nice playing out in the grass in his place. He can play all three spots out there but is going to become the Blue Jays' everyday right fielder this season thanks to their acquisitions of center field-capable players like Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho earlier in the offseason.

Instead, the Astros are set to roll with some combination of Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, Kyle Tucker, Mauricio Dubon and whoever else is capable of playing passable defense in the outfield.

New York Mets v Miami Marlins / Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/GettyImages

We wish Justin Verlander was still atop the Astros rotation

Yes, Justin Verlander was just recently named as one of the contracts we're glad is off the books for the Astros. But that is simply on the money side of things. On the mound, he is as good as they come and will be missed in the upcoming season, regardless of the talent the Astros still have in the rotation.

As of right now, the current starting rotation for the Astros is projected to be Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, José Urquidy and Hunter Brown in that order. This is a top-tier rotation but in the event that Brown hits a sophomore slump, someone like Verlander would be huge for this club.

The future first ballot Hall of Famer spent the first 13 years of his pro career on the Detroit Tigers, establishing himself as one of the best to ever do it. He joined the Astros in 2017 via trade and continued his utter dominance of the opposition.

In what ended up being parts of five seasons in an Astros uniform, he won two Cy Young Awards (and earned a second place finish in 2018), made three All-Star Games and had a combined 2.26 ERA and 187 ERA+ in 102 starts for the club.

It's shocking how such a brief tenure can cement a pitcher into the "best in franchise history" discussion, but Verlander did exactly that. What's even more impressive is the fact that he made only five starts for the club in 2017 and one start in 2020. He's surely not going to go into the Hall of Fame with an Astros cap on, but he did everything right while he was on the club and would look great leading the rotation once again.

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