Having won the World Series in 2017, you’d think the Astros management must have been geniuses in the player acquisition moves to get there. Actually, it’s rather amazing to me how much great talent they squandered along the way. Having lost the World Series in 2019 by one game, and the ALCS in 2020 also by one game, we might look longingly at some of this cast-off talent. In fact, you could fill a decent starting lineup with these players, and that’s what I'm going to do.
I’m only going to fill this roster of former Astro cast-offs with players simply released or relinquished in trades the Astros lost so, no, the players lost in the Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, Yordan Alvarez, or Aledmys Diaz trades don’t count.