4 early offseason Astros rumors that should have fans very concerned

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While things have been quiet in terms of actual moves thus far, the Houston Astros' offseason rumor mill is in full swing right now. There has certainly been plenty of talk about who the Astros' next manager is going to be, but there has also been no shortage of speculation about the Astros' potential strategy going into 2024 and even more folks that are trying to predict which free agents are going to land where.

In a lot of ways, this is the most fun part of the offseason because almost anything is still possible. All of the big names are still out there, so there is still technically a chance that the Astros could go wild even if it wouldn't make much sense logically. It is fun to dream. However, there is another side of the offseason scuttlebutt that could be indicating that this offseason could be far less than fun for Houston fans.

Here are 4 early offseason Astros rumors that should have fans very concerned

So much of what is said or shared publicly right now is posturing heading into free agency. Information isn't usually shared this time of the year without an agenda, so it is important to take a lot of it with a grain of salt. However, there is enough smoke around some of these rumors that they need to be in the back of folks' minds and they could very well end up being true which would be most unfortunate. Here are some of the more concerning ones.

Adding a quality starting pitcher doesn't sound like it is a priority

.The Astros' rotation went from a potential strength of the roster to a serious problem pretty quickly in 2023. Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia went down with season ending injuries and Jose Urquidy missed a bunch of time last season as well. Dana Brown did well to stay aggressive at the trade deadline to bring back Justin Verlander, but the 2024 rotation still looks like it could need one more quality arm.

However, it doesn't sound like the Astros' front office sees that pursuit for a starter as a priority. Brown did indicate that he would be open to adding a legitimate #3 type pitcher, but then went on to call adding bullpen arms and a backup catcher as priorities this offseason.

Again, this could all be posturing. Dana is a smart guy and he knows that you don't want to enter negotiations with anyone in a weak/desperate position. For all of this chatter that the Astros will be getting Garcia and McCullers Jr. back at some point of the season and don't technically "need" another pitcher, the reality is that Houston doesn't know what those guys will look like coming back from injury and then there is the "what happens until they return?" problem.

All of that said, if what Brown says is true and Houston doesn't look outside of the starting pitching clearance aisle, that could prove to be very problematic for their chances in 2024.

Houston's 2024 payroll may be all but tapped out

The Astros payroll is always going to be a hot topic. Owner Jim Crane generally puts pretty strict guardrails on the team's spending and he is particularly averse to deals that go longer than five years and north of $150 million. This is known information, though, and it honestly isn't that unreasonable to want to avoid those longer term, big money deals as they rarely work out well.

The problem comes, though, when then are whispers that the Astros may already be close to tapped out in terms of payroll before the offseason even begins. Brown even said as much at the GM meetings this past week when he said that the club doesn't have a lot of financial flexibility with their 2024 payroll at the moment.

Again, this could all be for show, but there are plenty of reasons to think that there is more to it than that. The Astros' current projected luxury tax payroll for 2024 is already $238 million which is slightly above the luxury tax threshold and we already know that ownership doesn't like to spend above that cap. Where is the room to make roster additions if that is the case? How could this impact ongoing contract extension talks with the Astros' core?

In the end, it is still very possible that Houston ends up being more active than we would think based on their payroll constraints. Trades could easily help them shed some of their existing payroll while yielding help for their roster and there is still a chance, albeit slight, that a deal presents itself that is too good for Crane/Brown to pass up even if it means spending a bit extra in luxury tax penalties. However, it is still pretty spooky that the Astros are set to enter another tough division race with very motivated competition next season and seemingly not having the resources to make roster improvements.

The Rangers are still going for it this offseason

Not every offseason rumor that could be bad news is strictly tied to what the Astros could do or not do. The Texas Rangers have been among the league's most aggressive spenders the last few years. Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Nathan Eovaldi, and Jordan Montgomery are just some of the guys they added in free agency or in trades that helped them win the World Series this past season.

Given the number of big names that they have gone after the last couple of years, one would assume that they could be running out of money to throw around? As it turns out, the Rangers are not done whatsoever. Not only have they already been connected to top free agents Aaron Nola and Josh Hader, but they are also among the favorites to land Shohei Ohtani this offseason.

While there is little chance that the Rangers land all of those guys unless the Rangers want to be in the Steve Cohen level of luxury tax penalties, having a team this good and this motivated in the AL West presents a significant challenge for the Astros. There is a real risk that while the Astros try to keep this roster together with duct tape and zip ties while making minor moves elsewhere, the Rangers could put some real distance between the two rosters in terms of overall talent.

Texas' strategy doesn't come without risk. The deGrom signing as well as the trade for Scherzer both look like they could not end well as deGrom was out for most of the season and Scherzer got hurt at the end of 2023. As the Mets taught us, baseball is hard and just throwing a ton of money at a roster does not instantly make a team a World Series contender. However, the Rangers have plenty of young, homegrown talent as well in Evan Carter and Josh Jung and they are looking to be even stronger going into 2024.

Martin Maldonado could be coming back after all

Why o' why can the Astros not quit Martin Maldonado. Despite the fact that Maldonado was one of the worst players in baseball last year and has been terrible at the plate for longer than that, Houston could not help themselves and gave Maldonado the bulk of the playing time at catcher in 2023 despite having the strictly better Yainer Diaz on the roster.

Things were looking up when the season ended, though. Maldonado became a free agent and Dana Brown committed to Diaz as being the guy that was going to get the bulk of the playing time at catcher. It appeared as though our long nightmare had finally come to an end.

However, a report from a few days ago changed that sentiment as The Athletic's Chandler Rome shared that the Astros have talked with Maldonado and are considering bring him back for 2024 to serve as their backup catcher.

In a vacuum, having Maldy serve as a mentor to the younger Diaz makes a ton of sense. However, Houston should not be trusted to have Maldonado on the roster and not give him far more playing time than he should get at this stage of his career. Hopefully whoever ends up being the Astros' new manager doesn't make that same mistake if Houston does indeed bring Maldy back, because it is very clear that they need to move on.

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