Houston Astros Will Be a Possibility for 2-Time Cy Young Winner This Offseason

The Houston Astros could be a landing spot for one of the most marquee arms on the market.

John Hefti-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros are entering an offseason on the heels of what was a difficult regular season and ultimately a failure in the postseason after a two game sweep in the Wild Card round at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.

How much money the team has to spend will hinge largely on what some of the top free agents of their own decide to do, but what seems like a clear need is an arm in the rotation with 41-year-old Justin Verlander all but guaranteed to look elsewhere after a 2024 season in which he struggled through injuries and was left off the playoff roster.

If the Astros want to make a legitimate splash in free agency, there is a name out there that makes a lot of sense. San Francisco Giants starter and former Cy Young winner Blake Snell looks poised to hit free agency even though he does have the option to return to the Bay Area, but given his ridiculous end to the 2024 campaign (5-0 with a 1.44 ERA over his last 10 starts), he will likely test the market once again. Christopher Kline of FanSided thinks that if Snell does indeed hit free agency, the Astros make a lot of sense.

"Yusei Kikuchi and Justin Verlander are both free agents, so there will be slots opening up in the Astros' regular-season rotation," Kline wrote. "The three-headed monster of Snell, Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown might be unmatched in the American League. Depth in the pitching staff is the surest way to build a contender. Houston won't lack slugging next season, but Snell shores up the bullpen collective and launches the Astros back into the World Series conversation."

Snell has demonstrated in the second half of this season that he is still one of the best in the game after he struggled mightily to begin 2024 in his first season in San Francisco coming off a 2023 Cy Young season in San Diego. He is not exactly a huge innings eater, throwing over 150 in a season just twice ironically in both of his Cy Young campaigns in 2018 and 2023. But in order to get themselves back into the upper echelon of American League teams and get back on the track of success that the team has been on for the better part of the last decade, a splash will have to be made.

Snell might just prove to be that perfect splash.