Will do as this is likely the last year this team will be together.
@Bigun Not necessarily. They'll be together at least for another run in 2020 and I wouldn't bet against them at all for that.
Major key number one beyond: Re-signing Jose Altuve, if they can. They're in a position to think about extending him and getting it done before the last two years on his current contract expire. Right
now, they are. A lot will depend on whether those players not yet arbitration eligible become more expensive over time and how much more so in arbitration before Altuve hits his first free agency. If they do to enough extent and the Astros decide they can't afford to keep Altuve, that would be
the biggest blow to them. If any Astro is the real heart and soul of this team, it's him. Losing him would be tantamount to the day Duke Ellington lost his great alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges forever.
The better news: George Springer, Carlos Correa (when he returns from the IL), and Lance McCullers Jr. (when he returns) are still early in their primes. Alex Bregman probably hasn't reached his highest potential just yet and he's
already one of the best in the American League. And there are more coming through the organisational pipeline who have upside enough to keep the Astros competitive enough that they can play the free agent markets prudently, maybe enough so that all those factors combine to tell them keeping Jose Altuve is worth it, after all.
I see the Astros still able to make runs in 2020 and even 2021. Beyond that? It's a crap shoot. Even as brainy as the Astros' brain trusts are, they're not that far from their greatest challenge.