I'm not sure any Major League Baseball team is looking forward to 2020 ending as much as the . The year started with the Astros being punished for the sign-stealing scandal, continued with ace going down with Tommy John surgery one start into the abbreviated 60-game season, and concluded with a 29-31 record and a Game Gary Trent Jr. Jersey 7 defeat in the ALCS. Not a lot to feel good about there. At the same time, Astros players escaped sign-stealing punishment -- but there were no fans in the stands to boo them -- and that 29-31 record still earned Houston as a postseason spot thanks to the expanded 16-team field. Also, it was their fourth straight ALCS berth, and they became only the second team ever to force a Game 7 after falling behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series. It wasn't all bad. The Astros now are approaching a cro sroads, if they're not at one already. and are free agents and Verlander will mi s 2021 rehabbing. Verlander, , , , and Jr. will all become free agents after next season, . and are signed through 2024, so they're not going anywhere, but this core's days are numbered. Next year might be their last chance to win another title together. "That's the balance of trying to keep one eye on the present and one eye on the future," . "It's not lost on me -- or any of us -- how talented this group is. You don't get to the ALCS four years in a row, you don't get to Game 7 of the ALCS unle s you have a very talented core. And obviously we want to try to keep this window open for as long as we po sibly can. But the last thing that we can do is make a series of short-sighted moves that are going to put us in a bad position for the long term. So that's the balance of the present and the future." The Astros, like every other team, did not make as much money as expected in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their 2020 luxury tax payroll was $233.8 million, second highest in baseball, and their current 2021 luxury tax payroll is roughly $155 million. It is safe to a sume payroll will come down next year, but even if it drops to the $210 million C.J. Elleby Jersey luxury tax threshold, Click Co. do have some money to spend. There are three key areas the Astros must addre s this offseason. TOR CF #4 BA0.265R37HR14RBI32SB1 Over the last two seasons , Springer, and Brantley ranked 1-2-3 in games played in the outfield among Astros players. All three are free agents this winter. , who impre sed in 2020, will undoubtedly hold down one outfield spot in 2021. The other two spots are open questions, with speedster and the untested the top in-house options now that knee surgeries all but ensure he will be a full-time DH moving forward. The Astros not only have to fill two-thirds of their outfield, they have to replace two All-Star caliber players in the proce s. "It may take us years to try to recover from (the pandemic). So our spending is going to be dependent on what we think 2021 is going to look like operationally and what the market bears out as a result of that," . "But George Springer, Michael Brantley, it's obvious to everybody how good they are at the game of baseball right now, how much they bring to this team on and off the field. The question is always how we balance everything and make sure that we put this team in a position to succeed, not only in the short term but the long term." and I'm sure they've touched base with Springer's camp as well. Re-signing both seems impo sible unle s the Astros run a much higher payroll than expected, or cut salary elsewhere. Springer is the better player and the better fit -- Brantley turns 34 in May and is going to spend more and more time at DH in the coming years -- but he's also going to cost substantially more. Brantley figures to come on a short-term, lower cost deal. HOU LF #23 BA0.300R24HR5RBI22SB2 "Shorter term deals do provide more flexibility than longer term deals," . "We Jusuf Nurkic Jersey probably would prioritize shorter term deals. That said, there is always flexibility and appetite on my end to be creative about ways to line things up with potential free agents, or other trades where we don't have to do things the same way that they've always been done in terms of contracts. If we want to find new ways to be creative we'll be open on any of those ideas." Beyond Brantley and Springer, are , who isn't a great fit because he's a DH more than an outfielder at this point, , and the recently non-tendered . Free agent Jr. strikes me as an excellent candidate to hold down center field post-Springer. is a potential trade target, maybe even should the AL West rival put him back on the trade market. By OPS+, Brantley and Springer were Houston's two best hitters in 2020. The Astros still have the makings of a good offense with Altuve, Alvarez, Bregman, Correa, and Tucker, but how they replace Brantley and Springer may very well determine if they have a powerhouse lineup heading into 2021, or merely a good offense. Replacing those two is easily the team's most pre sing piece of offseason busine s. The Astros didn't just lose Verlander to injury early in the season. Closer went down with Portland Trail Blazers Hoodie an elbow injury of his own and was limited to four games. Houston released him after the season rather than pay him north of $10 million through arbitration in 2021. (Technically, the Astros outrighted Osuna off the 40-man roster and he elected free agency.) The Astros had a ton of pitching injuries in 2020 and it meant opportunities for young arms. Some of those young arms, like , performed very well and cemented their place on the 2021 roster. Here's what their rotation looks like even without Verlander: RHP Zack GreinkeLHP RHP Lance McCullers Jr.RHP RHP Cristian JavierPretty good! Greinke is getting a little long in the tooth but I'm not going to bet against him. He's a Hall of Fame talent. History tells us McCullers is likely to mi s time with injury in 2021 and Javier figures to be on some sort of workload limit (his career high is the 113 2/3 innings he threw in 2019), so the Astros will need some rotation depth. C.J. McCollum Jersey As things stand, that top five is pretty strong. They need support rotation pieces more than cornerstones. The bullpen is a different matter. It was clear in the postseason that manager Dusty Baker trusted only two relievers: Javier and closer . Javier is moving back into the rotation and will ostensibly be replaced in the bullpen by veteran , who opted out of the 2020 season. Houston's current relief crew looks like this: Closer: RHP Ryan Pre slySetup: RHP Joe Smith, LHP Middle: RHP , LHP Brooks Raley, RHP Long: LHP , RHP Perez and Pruitt are out of minor league options, so either they stick on the MLB roster next season or they go on waivers. Being out of options doesn't guarantee them Opening Day roster spots but it does work in their favor. Teams usually don't want to give away pitching depth early in the year. Paredes and Scrubb were ver