Astros' brutal offseason continues as they lose key coach to the Cubs

Not much about this offseason has gone particularly well for the Houston Astros. They had to start their offseason looking for a new manager after Dusty Baker retired and beyond that, the team has done little to bolster their 2024 roster beyond signing Victor Caratini to be their back-up catcher due to payroll concerns.

Look, the Astros are still going to be good and some of the doomsaying with Houston is very much overblown as strong rosters like theirs are tough to improve efficiently. However, one loss that could prove to haunt Houston happened recently to their coaching staff as hitting coach Jason Kanzler left to join the Cubs as their new director of player development.

Losing Jason Kanzler could haunt the Astros going forward

Seeing coaching changes with a new manager installed is to be expected. While manager Joe Espada is a familiar face to the organization, any change in leadership is going to lead to other changes as well as coaches looking to take the opportunity to see what their other options are. Getting a leadership role like player development director is tough to pass up and Kanzler certainly deserves the opportunity.

That said, this is yet another brutal loss for the Astros. Kanzler has been instrumental in helping Houston's lineup regulars make adjustments during the season and his voice will be sorely missed. The Astros' hitters will remain in good hands as Troy Snitker and Alex Cintrón are both very good at their jobs, but it will be interesting to see if the offense takes a step back in 2024.

For now at least, the biggest questions are whether or not we could see more changes to the Astros' coaching staff going forward. It is getting late in the offseason for too many more moves to happen, but Houston could still at the very least add another coach before spring training to replace Kanzler unless they feel as though their current staff can fill the void without too much difficulty.

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