Houston Astros ‘Biggest Weakness’ Has Everything To Do with Their Farm System

The Houston Astros weakness could turn into a big problem if it isn't fixed in the future.

Feb 15, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown talks with media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

From top to bottom throughout the past decade, the Houston Astros have been the best organization in Major League Baseball. They've developed talent, won two World Series, and have by far found the most success out of any team in the league during that span.

At the beginning of the campaign, it looked possible that their dynasty was coming to an end. At some point, every organization that's found success has to face that reality. It's tough to watch it go, but it's the hard truth of Major League Baseball.

While that looked likely to happen, the Astros turned around and proved to the baseball world that they weren't going down without a fight. Now, six games ahead of the second-place Seattle Mariners in the American League West and 75-63 overall, Houston not only bounced back, but might be the team to beat in the postseason. 

Despite all of the good that's happened over the past few months and years, one glaring issue showed its significance during the trade deadline. The Astros' farm system is simply not up to par with some of the other teams around the league, a major problem as they look to continue playing good baseball after their veteran players retire. 

It's tough to say it's the end-all-be-all because of the talent on their roster, and they should be World Series contenders for at least the next four to five years, but they need to consider it.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report highlighted the issue, saying it's their "biggest weakness." 

"It's largely on homegrown talent that the Astros have built their dynasty, but it's also been a minute since they put down a new cornerstone superstar in the mold of Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker. The Astros' farm system hasn't ranked higher than 27th in MLB.com's rankings since 2020. This has yet to spell their doom, but that coupled with how they haven't picked higher than 15th in the last nine drafts doesn't bode well for the future of their prospect pipeline."

It's always possible that Houston will add big league-ready talent when the time comes. However, having this bad of a farm system will eventually come back to bite them.

It's impossible to fix a farm system in a short amount of time without trading away some of the top players on the big league team, so this is something the front office will have to address over the next few seasons.