South Correa

Okay. I still hate the Astros. Nothing has changed in that department. 

Look, it was made very clear that the Astros cheated, and they didn't suffer enough for it. They still got to the ALCS last year despite finishing the season under .500, Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch still got rehired, and the majority of this team is still expected to thrive like nothing happened. That's not what penalizing means. If you penalize someone, that means you make repeated behavior a negative connotation, so they won't do it again. The Astros may not get caught cheating again, but the team they used to get to those places is still capable of winning games. 

That's really the infuriating part. We still have Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Yuli Gurriel and Lance McCullers running around this team, and they're expected to continue to do well, as are the Astros. Yes, Springer left, that's a big piece that's been redistributed, but this team could still feasibly win the division, or at the very least make the playoffs. And we don't want a team that has been caught cheating to continue to win. 

Even stranger, a lot of the newcomers are beginning to carry the load. Kyle Tucker had a breakout season last year, and is primed to have another big year. The rotation is giving people like Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy chances to have big moments. This team is shifting into a new, post-2017 era that may still be able to compete, which is pretty scary for the fans who hate the Astros right now.

Yet at the same time, the A's and Angels are also expected to compete this year, and they've made more offseason moves than the Astros, who only really leapt late for people like Jake Odorizzi. Those teams also have more peak lineup pieces intact than the Astros, who are beginning to lose theirs, and they have more flexibility when it comes to younger players. The Astros may still make the playoffs, but I don't see them thriving as much as they did in the last few years. 

Coming Tonight: One of the few stars still left in Denver.