Best Houston Astros Players of All Time

The Houston Astros’ baseball betting lines have been a hot commodity the last few years, but that hasn’t always been the case. While some of the best Houston Astros players of all time are among the sport’s greats, the franchise has spent long periods in the doldrums. 

Several former Astros are in Cooperstown already, and multiple others are bound to join them in the coming years. 

Here are my top five Astros players of all time.

Best Houston Astros Players of All Time

1. Jeff Bagwell

A Hall of Famer, former MVP and four-time All-Star, Jeff Bagwell has the most bWAR in franchise history by a healthy margin. He’s second for the franchise in hits and games played, and only Yordan Álvarez has a better OPS+.

Receiving MVP votes in 10 separate seasons reflects how great Bagwell was for a long period. He’s hit by far the most homers in franchise history. 

While he didn’t enjoy the team success of modern Astros and posted just a .645 postseason OPS, Bagwell was a lock for the top spot in these rankings. 

2. Jose Altuve

After the sign-stealing controversy, Jose Altuve and other recent Astros are always going to split opinion. Altuve’s greatness, though, is not up for debate. 

José Altuve becomes the fastest player in @Astros history (1,190 games) to reach 1,500 hits.

He passes Jeff Bagwell by 173 games. pic.twitter.com/JX9WmQdrmn

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) July 28, 2019

The 5-foot-6 second baseman is a former MVP, a three-time batting champion and two-time World Series winner. He’s got eight All-Star selections and six Silver Sluggers to his name, with more on the way. 

Altuve is already fifth in franchise bWAR and will be third if he’s healthy for the 2024 season. He should be heading to Cooperstown once he’s eligible – the Puerto Cabello native is one of the greatest second basemen of the 21st century.

3. Craig Biggio

Craig Biggio is second in Astros bWAR, and Altuve has a lot of work to do to catch him. As a Hall of Famer with four Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers, over 3,000 hits and seven All-Star berths, Biggio has a strong case to be in the second spot.

Biggio, however, did not enjoy the same levels of team success and didn’t reach the same peak as Altuve. He had just five seasons with an OPS+ above 120 and clocked only five seasons with MVP votes (only breaking the top five in two of those). 

4. Justin Verlander

There are 20 Astros with more bWAR than Justin Verlander. Some might view this as a controversial selection, but Verlander’s lack of volume is made up for by his significance to the franchise. 

He was ALCS MVP in 2017 on his way to his first of two titles with Houston. Two of his three Cy Young wins have come with the Astros, and he’s the only player in franchise history to win multiple Cy Youngs (only three other players have won it). 

In every full healthy season with Houston, Verlander has been an All-Star. He’s received MVP votes in each of those campaigns, and his worst Cy Young placing was second in 2018. A career 179 ERA+ meant Verlander had to slot somewhere in the top five. 

5. Lance Berkman

Lance Berkman has the sixth-most bWAR of any Houston Astro. Berkman posted a 146 OPS+ over his 12 years in Houston, finishing third in MVP voting on two occasions and notching five All-Star selections.

A great eye and good power made Berkman an elite hitter throughout his career. He played a major role on multiple competitive Astros teams at the start of the century and led the team in bWAR on four occasions.