The big differences compared to 2007 is that most of that team was old. Except for Pence, all their starters were above 30 I believe. Biggio was 40; Ausmus was 38. And that team was healthy and still sucked - the last time this team was healthy, it was in the playoffs. Their core success was build around Clemens/Pettite/Oswalt and once that was gone, they didn't have a basis of the team - their offense was already terrible in 2005. Comparatively, n a ridiculous health year last year, they missed the playoffs by a game. This year, they'd likely be close if not in it with better health. They also have a ton of young players in the mix right now. But beyond that, if the 2007 team had traded Oswalt and Berkman, I'm not sure they are anything beyond mediocre a few years later anyway because they had nothing to surround the new prospects with. If you trade all the key guys this time around, you at least have a few young players, but no one proven yet so you might in the same boat. I say again that Astros fans are spoiled because of how well our reconstruction went last time around. But trading your core now and getting a bunch of prospects - most of which will likely wash out - is just as likely to result in mediocrity as any kind of future success. I was fully for the rebuild and not-trading-prospects to sustain the 2007 Astros. I see the argument for trying to start over again this time, but I also see a perfectly viable path to being pretty decent the next few years and that's not worth ignoring. And the latter is much more fan-friendly - Crane is unlikely to embark on another major rebuild at this point.
I actually believe the exact opposite. This team has this year and next year before the current MLB core is mostly gone without legitimate core-type prospects ready to fill the void before 2029 at the earliest. Altuve, Correa, Yordan, and McCullers are all Astro icons who will always be legends here. They deserve a chance at another ring before they leave/retire and 2026 and 2027 are the best chances. The AL has probably never been weaker and easier to win. Even at 27-35 they are only 3.5 games out of a WC spot with 100 games remaining. And are now getting healthy after terrible injury luck. Joe Espada has sacrificed 2 winnable games in the past 5 days by pitching Abreu in close games. Espada and Abreu need to go. Dana needs to find an everyday LF or CF who is reliable for 120+ wRC+/OPS+. Preferably a lefty but that reduces the options. Decide which of Cole, Loperfido, Trammell, Matthews, Dezenzo and even Meyers are important and will help in 2026 and 2027. Trade the others. Start Cam 4-5 games per week in RF. Put him in the 7th or 8th spot and do not move him the rest of the season. One of the bench lefties starts 2 games per week vs RHSP that are tough matchups for him. Give him stability and confidence. 51 games until the trade deadline. Lots of good can still happen. If not they can still sell or even buy/sell by trading Pena, Paredes, Walker, etc for young MLB players instead of prospects. They can still trade rentals like Pena or Paredes in the offseason for MLB ready players, like they did with Tuck, and compete in 2027. 2028 is probably going to be a down year regardless but with the draft capital this team has and time between now and then, this team CAN still try to compete in 2026 and 2027 and have a good young team by 2029 or 2030.
