For almost a decade, the Astros ruled the American League. If they weren't dominating their competition on the field to the tune of four pennants in seven years, they were invariably dominating chatter off of it—for good or for ill.
In 2025, that came to a screeching halt. Houston missed the playoffs altogether for the first time since 2016, drummed out by the Guardians on the season's penultimate day. They finished three games behind the Mariners in the American League West, yielding control of that division for the first time since 2020.
