Both the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros have undergone rebuilds in this decade.
Also, both the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros are enjoying current success at the highest level of competition now.
Unfortunately for the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros are having a little bit more of it to this point.
The Astros won the World Series in 2017 and are currently engaged in the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals.
However, if we dive deeper, we notice a lot of similarities in how both the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves went about their rebuilds.
Let’s take a look.
First off, we must remember that the Astros last days in the National League at the beginning of this decade were dark and abysmal days for the franchise.
The 2011, 2012, and 2013 seasons saw the Astros win 162 games combined!
As you have already guessed, that means they lost 2 out of every 3 games for those three years.
The Atlanta Braves didn’t enjoy that bad of a bad run, but both teams no doubt had to get through the losses before the sun rose on the good days.
Atlanta surprised many when they won the division in 2018. Many said it was a year or two early, but yet they did it.
The same can probably be said about the Astros in 2015 when they surprised some by earning a wild card spot and then defeating the New York Yankees. Some said they were a year or two early.
That’s where the similarities start, but they don’t end there.
It all mostly started in 2007 for Houston when they signed Jose Altuve as an amateur free agent. This was much of the same way the Atlanta Braves started off by signing both Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna.
Another trait both these teams share is their superb drafting over the past decade or so.
The Astros selected George Springer in 2011 and then followed that up in 2012 with the drafting of Carlos Correa.
They did miss in 2013 when they selected Mark Appel at #1 instead of Kris Bryant. They missed in 2014 as well when they chose Brady Aiken, but they didn’t sign him, which in turn gave them the second pick in 2015 to select Alex Bregman.
As you can see, they drafted high caliber players in this time and players who have been crucial to the turnaround.
The Atlanta Braves, as we all know, have drafted well too. Players like Freddie Freeman, Mike Soroka, and Brian McCann were all drafted by the Braves.
Another little note I will throw in is both of these teams had bullpen implosions in their early returns back to prominence.
The Astros decided to trade for Ken Giles. It’s yet to be seen how the Braves will look to remedy their bullpen woes from this October. It wouldn’t surprise me if they went after…Ken Giles.
After all these similarities have been digested, there is still one thing that the Astros have done a few times that the Braves haven’t yet decided to do, and that’s trade some big-time prospects for frontline pitching.
The Astros had to do that to acquire each of their current big three. That includes Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, and Gerrit Cole.
Again, it will be interesting to see if the Braves adopt this strategy perhaps as soon as this Winter.
Examining all this, one thing as a Braves fan is clear. The Astros entered the playoffs in 2015, then narrowly missed it in 2016, and then won the World Series in 2017.
In case it didn’t add up for you, that was their third year back in relevance. The 2020 season will be the third year back in relevance for the Atlanta Braves. Hopefully lightning does strike twice?