2017: The Year of the Spacemen!

Yes, it has finally arrived! The calendar has changed over, and the rough patches of last year are now in the rear view mirror. The fresh starts on the horizon could not feel any better. And trust me, there will be plenty of those for all of us. This includes the Houston Astros and your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis!

My first article for House of Houston in 2017 went in depth into the projection chart that I made just last month. Of course, everyone does have their own opinion about what will exactly happen for the team in the upcoming season and year. However, I happen to truly believe that my chart may not be that far off.

Your top 4 of George Springer, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will continue to be rolled out on a regular basis. Only Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and yes, even Evan Gattis should be the only players to see DH time. On that front, McCann and Gattis will have a pretty solid platoon situation in the catcher core. I see a clip of McCann - 90, Gattis - 72, give or take a few games.

Marwin Gonzalez and Jake Marsinick are the real odd men out for playing time. And finally, the rookies that got time last season may see very little, if any, action at the major league level in 2017. So fans can save their breath on players such as A.J. Reed, Tyler White, Tony Kemp, Teoscar Hernandez and Preston Tucker.

This will all, of course, hinge on whether everyone on the 25-man roster stays healthy. Slumps and hot streaks will also play a serious factor. It is a roller coaster that skipper, A.J. Hinch will be guiding us on throughout all 162 games. Jeff Lunhow and Jim Crane are the high spending carnival owners in this case.

And by the way, Astros fans, those of you that still refuse to cease your mentioning of trying to trade Evan Gattis may want to be warned that I will continue calling you out on it. It's over! Stop coveting other players and thinking that El Oso Blanco will be used to get them. And fans of other teams, stop coveting the Big White Bear. He's not for sale!

The starting rotation is still solid as is, and Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers are expected to have bounce back seasons upcoming. The way the team is set up as it stands right now put them in a really good position to get to the Fall classic. Could they use an elite starter? Sure, but the market for that is shrinking to the point of not existing anymore. So fans need to get used to the fact that Gattis is around, at the very least, until he becomes a free agent at the end of 2018 going into the 2019 season. 

And even then, he just may re-sign with the team.

A helmet tip"Thank you very much!" Get used to this for a while, Astros fans!