BEST OF THE BEST

Ranking the 10 greatest players in Astros history

Ranking the 10 greatest players in Astros history
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Putting together a list of all-time franchise greats is never easy. Someone always gets left off. But in the 58-year history of the Astros, there really has not been a lot of stars. They went 36 years before winning 100 games. But there are still plenty of quality players to choose from. For the purposes of this list, players have to have had at least three full seasons with the Astros. Obviously, any such list is subjective, but on the eve of only the third World Series in franchise history, let's honor the best of the best:

10 - George Springer

Astros George SpringerPhoto by Ron Schwane/Getty Images

You could make a case for a lot of long time Astros in this spot. Jimmy Wynn. Jose Cruz. Joe Niekro. But Springer was one of the key elements to the Astros rise from insignificance to a two-time World Series participant. There are others with better overall numbers, but none of them have a World Series MVP next to their name. He is also tied with Jose Altuve for the most postseason home runs in club history, which is no small feat considering some of the other names on this list. The magical 2017 title never happens without him, and he still has time to move way up in these rankings.

9 - Larry Dierker

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim v Houston Astros

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Long before he was a broadcaster and manager, Dieker was a terrific pitcher for a long time for the Astros, winning 137 games over 13 years, including a 20-win season and two All-Star appearances. While his numbers were not overwhelming, he was a very good pitcher for many years.

8-Roger Clemens

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Clemens was simply one of the most dominant pitchers to ever play. And while he is better known for his time in Boston and New York, pitching just three seasons in Houston, he won a Cy Young award and helped the Astros to their first World Series appearance. Had he pitched a few more years here, he would be much higher on the list.

7-Alex Bregman

Astros Alex BregmanPhoto by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

This might seem high, but Bregman has accomplished a lot in a very short time. He finished top 5 in MVP voting last season and will be no worse than second this season and could very well become just the third MVP in franchise history. He was an integral part of the 2017 World Series and still has a lot of good years ahead of him.

6-Roy Oswalt

Divisional Round - Cleveland Indians v Houston Astros - Game Two

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Like Dierker, Oswalt was simply a solid pitcher for a long time for the Astros, winning 143 games in 10 years and never posting a losing record in that time. He also was the winning pitcher in the NLCS clincher in 2005, sending the Astros to their first World Series. The three-time All-Star finished in the top five in Cy Young voting five times.

5-Lance Berkman

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Like Oswalt, Berkman was a great contributor for a long time. He played 12 years with the Astros, hitting 326 homers, driving in over 1,000 runs and batting .296. He was a five-time All-Star and finished third in MVP voting twice.

4-Craig Biggio

Craig BiggioThomas B. Shea/Getty Images

The Hall of Fame second baseball was a picture of consistency, playing 20 years, getting over 3,000 hits with seven All-Star appearances. His longevity made him the consummate Astro.

3-Nolan Ryan

New York Yankees v Texas Rangers

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While many think of Ryan as an Angel or for his later exploits with the Rangers, the Hall of Famer pitched nine years in Houston and put up remarkable numbers despite a ridiculous lack of support. He made just two All-Star games but won 106 games with a 3.13 ERA with the Astros. His ERA never got above 3.80 for his entire tenure. He struck out an astounding 1866 batters in 1854 innings and threw one of his seven career no-hitters as an Astro. He also was an integral part of the first two playoff teams in Astros history. He led the league in ERA and strikeouts twice. An All-time great.

2-Jeff Bagwell

Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell playing the San Francisco Giants in 1997Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Stringer/Getty Images

While Biggio got into the Hall before Bagwell, the first baseman was always the more dominant player. In a 15-year career, he hit 449 home runs, won rookie of the year, was named in MVP in 1994, played in four All-Star games, won three Silver Sluggers and a Gold Glove. He led the team to six playoff appearances during his time with the Astros. His shoulder was shot when the team finally made the World Series in 2005, but he was a great player for a long time, and clearly the greatest Astro until...

1-Jose Altuve

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No, this isn't a reaction to Saturday night's heroics. Altuve has been one of the best players in baseball for years. He has six All-Star appearances in his nine years in the league. He has won three batting titles - no other Astros has one - a league MVP in 2017, a World Series title, and now an ALCS MVP Award as well. He finished third in MVP voting in 2016. He has hit over .300 in five of his nine seasons, and just missed this year at .298. He has been the best player on a team that has made it to the ALCS three straight times, winning two and a World Series, and maybe another this year. He is likely a future Hall of Famer and will be tough to knock off the top of this list.

Just missing out

Justin Verlander pitches Game 1. Bob Levey/Getty Images

Justin Verlander might win a Cy Young this year and will certainly knock someone off this list when he reaches a third season with the team. His two-plus seasons in Houston put him on par with Clemens. He isn't slowing down and is a lock to be on this list. If he continues to perform at this level for the rest of his contract, he could easily crack the top five. As for honorable mentions, Mike Scott won a Cy Young and had a brief run of brilliance. J.R. Richard might have been the most dominant Astro ever, but his career ended too soon. Don Wilson was really good for nine years before his untimely death. Wynn and Cruz were the Astros best players when the team was not very good. Niekro was an underrated pitcher. Joe Morgan was terrific but in his 10 Astros seasons was merely an above average hitter and hit just .261; he thrived when he joined the Reds. Billy Wagner was a dominant reliever for a long time. Dallas Keuchel won a Cy Young and a World Series.

Current Astros with a chance beyond Verlander include Gerrit Cole if he re-signs and has more good seasons. Carlos Correa has been slowed by injuries but if he can ever stay healthy and re-signs with the team, he could be there at some point in the future as well. The current Astros team is the best we have seen, with three on the list and three more potentially making it. There's no surprise they are on an unprecedented run, and No. 1 on the list is the biggest reason.

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It’s been an excellent weeklong stretch of games for the Astros tempered by the news of yet another season-ending injury to a starting pitcher. To get the bad news out of the way, it comes as no surprise that Ronel Blanco needs Tommy John surgery and is done until at least the middle of next season. While Blanco had not been nearly as good through nine 2025 starts as he was last season, he was still taking his regular return and on average getting into the sixth inning. Blanco turns 32 years old at the end of August. He’s not even salary arbitration-eligible until 2027. That last fact may be good news for him. The Astros will likely keep Blanco next year in hopes he can contribute in the second half of the season, since they will pay him barely the Major League minimum salary ($780,000 next year) That’s in contrast to Jose Urquidy, who in the midst of his salary arbitration years would have cost about three and a half million dollars to keep, so the Astros non-tendered him.

With Blanco joining Hayden Wesneski in the “See you next year! Hopefully.” club, it struck me as interesting that the Astros let Lance McCullers throw 102 pitches in his Wednesday outing vs. the Athletics. That’s eleven more than he had thrown in any of his prior four starts. McCullers holding up physically would be a huge boost, but the new essentials in the Astros’ rotation are Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown. Framber has settled in to the tune of a 1.93 earned run average over his last four starts. Brown’s season ERA is 2.00. Brown has had five days of rest before all eleven of his starts this season. This Sunday is Brown’s presently next scheduled outing. He would work on four days of rest if on the mound Sunday against the Rays.

Taking the last two games from the Mariners was huge (for the second half of May anyway). Keeping the good times rolling by sweeping the two-game miniseries from the A’s was less significant but still nice. Maybe not quite nice enough to have Frank “The Tank” from the movie Old School belting out “We’re going streaking!!!” but it did give the Astros their first four game winning streak of the season. They still have not lost more than three straight.

On a heater!

Speaking of streaking, time for annual mention of one of my all-time favorite baseball factoids. The 1916 New York Giants hold the MLB record for the longest win streak with an incredible 26 in a row. Earlier in the season the Giants ripped off 17 in a row. Combine the two streaks and that’s 43-0! The 1916 New York Giants finished in fourth place. In all their other games the Giants went 43-66. The American League’s longest ever winning streak is of fairly recent vintage. The 2007 Cleveland Indians won 22 straight. There have been only two other winning streaks since 1900 of at least 20 games. The 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 straight. The Art Howe-managed 2002 Oakland A’s won 20 in a row, and were the inspiration for the movie Moneyball. The Astros have three 12 game winning streaks as the longest in their history.

Expect the unexpected

Tuesday’s win over the A’s brought the Astros to the one-third completed point of the regular season. Isaac Paredes was definitely their best offensive player to that milepost. His “on pace for” numbers were the best on the ballclub 33 home runs and 93 runs batted in. Paredes also led in runs scored with 29. The last Astro to lead the team in all three of those categories was Alex Bregman who did it in both 2018 and 2019. That Bregman was clearly a better player than this Paredes, but Isaac healthy and making “only” 6.625 million dollars this season is a heck of a lot better value than Bregman at 40 mil for the Red Sox, especially given that while Bregman was off to a sensational start for Boston, he’s now out for at least a month with a quad injury.

Hunter Brown is on pace to win 20 games. The last Astro to get there was Gerrit Cole on the last day of the 2019 regular season. The day before that Justin Verlander won his 21st game.

The Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen was awesome last season, by far the best in the league with four relievers who each pitched in at least 74 games posting ERAs of 1.92 or lower, headlined by closer Emmanuel Clase’s microscopic 0.61. One-third of the way through this season for the Astros: Bryan Abreu sat at 1.90, Steven Okert 1.82, Josh Hader 1.57, Bryan King 1.52.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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