Ranking the Top Potential Free Agent Signings for the Astros

The Houston Astros were a runaway freight train in 2022. After 106 regular season wins, the world champs were even more dominant in the postseason, sweeping their way to a pennant before taking home their second World Series title in six games over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The team is still in great shape heading into the 2023 season. Many of the key pieces are still in tact, but the Golden Era of Astros' baseball didn't come to fruition with Owner Jim Crane resting on his laurels.

The Astros have some holes to fill if they're going to become the first team to repeat as World Series champs since the year 2000. While we'd all love to see Aaron Judge bat between Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez in the lineup, if franchise heroes like George Springer and Carlos Correa didn't get $30 million here, what makes us think the Astros will shell out a rumored $40 million for the (potentially former) Yankees slugger? And with a rotation that even without Justin Verlander goes six-deep, the Astros won't be shelling out stacks of cash for Jacob DeGrom, no matter how high his ceiling.

With some shrewd signings and a couple areas of needs addressed, the Astros will be in prime position to repeat as World Series champions. The following highlighted candidates will be pieces that realistically could wear an Astros jersey in the 2023 season. If they do, Houston will be all but assured to make their seventh consecutive trip to the ALCS and a fifth World Series birth since 2017.

Disclaimer: No first basemen will be highlighted in this piece, as potential candidates to play First Base for the Astros in 2023 were broken down here.