Overshadowed by trash-can banging, a few World Series defeats and some other dominant MLB franchises, the Houston Astros have established themselves as a legitimate baseball dynasty over the last few years.
The Astros have been to six straight American League Championship Series and four of the last six World Series. With MVPs, Silver Sluggers, Gold Gloves and Cy Youngs up and down the roster, the Astros are the most successful franchise in this era of baseball.
How did they get here? Why are the Astros good? And can you profit off this Houston success? We’ll break it down below:
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More Than A Trash Can: How The Astros Got Here
Everything’s bigger in Texas, right? So, just like this Houston dynasty has been huge, so was the pain that preceded it. The Astros won fewer than 60 games in 2011, 2012 and 2013, acquiring top draft picks that would become Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa, and building out the most advanced scouting and analytics network in baseball.
Even with George Springer and Correa having moved on to other teams, six of Houston’s current starting nine hitters were signed as amateur free agents or drafted by the Astros. On the pitching side, that internal development is even more impressive. Of the four starting pitchers Houston is trotting out in this postseason, only Justin Verlander was not originally drafted or signed by the ’Stros.
The trash-can-banging cheating scandal will certainly hang over this Houston core for the rest of time, but it isn’t the reason they’ve been such a dominant dynasty. They’re the prototypical rebuild gone right, and now the Astros are looking for their second World Series during this run — one without an asterisk.
You can bet on the Astros to win the 2022 World Series over at Sportsbook:
Can You Profit Off The Astros Dynasty?
There are two main ways to profit off this Astros organizational dominance and that’s with your day-to-day MLB bets and then futures. From a straight-up moneyline perspective, the Astros have been pretty profitable during this run (less so against the spread), but where the real money is to be had is by betting on the Astros in futures markets.
Astros Betting Trends
| Year | Straight Up Record/Profit | Against The Spread |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 101-61 (62.3%) +$1084.86 | 85-77 (52.5%) +$1770.65 |
| 2018 | 103-59 (63.6%) -$115.96 | 83-79 (51.2%) -$440.67 |
| 2019 | 107-55 (66.0%) +$10.37 | 87-75 (53.7%) -$193.33 |
| 2020 | 29-31 (48.3%) -$1246.51 | 24-36 (40.0%) -$1363.32 |
| 2021 | 95-67 (58.6%) -$98.26 | 77-85 (47.5%) -$997.15 |
| 2022 | 106-56 (65.4%) +$1148.98 | 86-76 (53.1%) +$815.9 |
| TOTAL | 541-329 (62.2%) +$783.48 | 442-428 (50.8%) -$407.92 |
Astros Success In Futures Markets
| Year | Sportsbook Day World Series Odds | Sept 1. World Series Odds | Season Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +1175 | +495 | Won World Series |
| 2018 | +525 | +475 | Lost in ALCS |
| 2019 | +590 | +230 | Lost World Series |
| 2020 | +800 | +1500 | Lost in ALCS |
| 2021 | +2200 | +425 | Lost World Series |
| 2022 | +1000 | +375 | TBD |
Though the Astros have won just one World Series in the last six seasons, they regularly deliver on preseason World Series odds value. Only once in the last six years has Houston’s World Series odds gotten worse over the course of the season, and that came in the shortened 2020 year when they still went to the ALCS.
Even if you don’t believe the Astros are destined for a World Series, it may be worth a preseason wager and then a cash-out before the playoffs begin!
Will Houston’s Dynasty Continue?
Past success can only tell us so much, but it seems pretty likely this Houston success will continue for at least a few more years.
Three of their top five hitters are just 25 years old (Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Jeremy Pena), and Justin Verlander is Houston’s only regular starting pitcher over 30. They’ve lost studs like Springer and Correa and haven’t missed a step.
Even looking beyond the current roster, the Astros have established themselves as one of the most dominant analytical organizations in sports. They’ve turned castoff pitchers into Cy Young-caliber hurlers and keep producing stars without top draft choices. When the Astros call on your prospects or MLB players, other teams should probably just hang up the phone. And that organizational strength alone is something to bet on — trash can or not.
