The Houston Astros are entering the offseason with a laundry list of needs and not a ton of financial wiggle room to address them all. It’s a familiar challenge for a team that’s been in the contender conversation for most of the past decade, but this winter might require a little more creativity from GM Dana Brown and company.

At the top of the Astros’ priority list? A legitimate No. 2 starter.

That’s a tall order in today’s pitching market, where frontline arms don’t come cheap-especially when you’re already brushing up against the luxury tax. But the need is real.

Houston’s rotation has depth, but it lacks that second hammer behind the ace, and if the Astros want to keep pace in what’s shaping up to be a competitive AL West, they’ll need to find a way to fill that hole.

Second base is another area to watch. The team could use more consistency there, and depending on how the market shakes out, they might need to get creative to find it.

The outfield could use some help too, particularly from the left side of the plate. Yordan Alvarez can’t do all the heavy lifting, and the search for another productive left-handed bat continues to be a recurring theme in Houston’s offseason planning.

Then there’s the long-term picture. Extensions for key players like Jeremy Peña are starting to come into focus. Locking up young talent is always a smart play, but it adds another layer of complexity to an already tight budget.

Still, as tricky as things look in Houston, they could be a whole lot worse. Just look a few hundred miles north to Arlington, where the defending 2023 World Series champion Rangers are facing a much steeper climb.

Texas has taken a hard fall since their title run. After finishing 10.5 games behind Houston in 2024 with a 78-84 record, they followed that up with a .500 campaign in 2025-a season that felt more like a slow fade than a serious push. They hung around, sure, but never truly threatened to reclaim the division crown.

The regression has been noticeable. Adolis García, who smashed 39 home runs in 2023, managed just 19 this past season, with a .665 OPS that speaks to a broader decline in production.

Corey Seager, when healthy, still looks like a star, but that “when healthy” qualifier is doing a lot of work these days. Marcus Semien’s production has dipped as he moves deeper into his 30s, and the rest of the lineup hasn’t been able to pick up the slack.

Offensively, the Rangers finished 22nd in runs scored with 684-just one spot behind the Astros. That’s not where you want to be when your payroll is loaded with long-term deals and your flexibility is shrinking.

And that’s the crux of the issue in Texas. The Rangers have a lot of needs-power bats, starting pitching, bullpen help-and not a lot of financial room to address them.

Four starters (Merrill Kelly, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, and Patrick Corbin) could be headed to free agency. That’s a big chunk of innings potentially walking out the door.

Meanwhile, the bullpen needs a serious overhaul, and the lineup could use a jolt.

But the front office is reportedly looking to cut payroll after two straight disappointing seasons, which makes solving all of those problems even tougher. Unlike 2023, when they spent big and got a ring out of it, this version of the Rangers is staring at a different kind of offseason-one where they may have to patch holes with bargain-bin solutions and hope for internal rebounds.

The contracts don’t help. Seager is locked in at $32.5 million annually through 2031.

Semien is on the books at $25 million through 2028. Jacob deGrom, still recovering from injury, is owed $37 million a year through 2027.

Those are massive commitments, and they’re not going anywhere. Trading them is easier said than done, which means any upgrades will have to come around the margins.

Unless the Rangers get a clean bill of health across the board and a few bounce-back seasons from key veterans, their chances of contending in 2026 are slim. That’s good news for Houston, at least in the short term.

With the Angels still spinning their wheels and the A’s continuing to operate on a shoestring budget, the AL West is shaping up to be a two-team race between the Astros and the Mariners. That’s both a blessing and a warning. Seattle’s already made noise this offseason, re-signing Josh Naylor in a move that signals they’re not standing pat.

So while Houston doesn’t need to go full throttle just to keep pace with Texas anymore, the pressure’s still on. The Mariners are coming, and they’re not shy about spending or making bold moves.

But all things considered, the Astros are in a much better spot than their Lone Star rivals. They’ve got holes to fill, yes.

But they also have a core that’s still built to win-and a front office that knows how to navigate a tightrope. If Dana Brown can thread the needle this winter, Houston could enter 2026 as the team to beat once again.