Even when a team is young, coming out of a deep rebuild, and fresh off success, the trajectory doesn't always keep going upward. So it is with the 2016 Astros.

The Astros, who lost 324 games from 2011-13 and another 92 in 2014, broke through with a playoff berth last year. That served as a validation of the improbably lean (and controversial) years that accompanied GM Jeff Luhnow's teardown of the roster.

In a sense, the 2016 version hasn't been much different in terms of overall record. Rather, the Astros this season ran into a more competitive wild card fray. So in some ways, they plateaued this year. Next year, it's likely they'll be competitive again, and the young roster may mean improved outcomes in certain spots.

First and foremost, the Astros will return the best middle-infield combo in baseball -- Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. They'll get a full season from third baseman Alex Bregman, who entered 2016 as the consensus top position prospect in all baseball. George Springer returns (and even though he just turned 27, he's the oldest member of the core). Cuban veteran Yulieski Gurriel will return to provide infield depth. A.J. Reed, despite rookie disappointments, still has a high offensive ceiling at first base. As well, Tyler White may turn out be a useful big-league bat. Heck, Jon Singleton is still just 25, so who knows. Houston got poor production from first base this season, but they have enough pre-prime options at the position for 2017. Elsewhere, they also have an affordable $5.2 million option for 2017 on Evan Gattis, who topped 30 homers this season and logged more than 400 innings behind the plate.

The Astros' front office will need to do a better job of plugging holes in the lineup than they did this season, and an impact left fielder should certainly be a priority. Fortunately for the Astros, they've got plenty of cash to do that. The upcoming free agent market isn't particularly brimming with frontline talent, but corner outfield solutions figure to be in relative abundance. Potentially, the likes of Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick, Jose Bautista, Ian Desmond, Dexter Fowler, and Matt Holliday will be on the market. After all those years of running basement-level payrolls, Houston certainly has the cash flow to make land a premium talent, even in a demand-tilted market such as this upcoming winter's.

The Houston bullpen this season was among baseball's best, and in 2017 they'll have pretty much the entire relief corps under contract or under team control. The rotation, though, was a bit of a problem. Most conspicuously, 2015 AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel backslid and wound up running an ERA in the mid-4.00s. Lance McCullers battled injuries, and Doug Fister on balance disappointed. For 2017, though, they'll have options. Assuming all are tendered, Keuchel and McCullers return, as do Collin McHugh and Mike Fiers.

The real story may in the young arms on the way. Joe Musgrove, who's shown promise in his debut season, will of course be back. Twenty-two-year-old David Paulino is a high-upside threat to crack the rotation, and Francis Martes, the top pitching prospect in the system, fared well at Double-A as a 20-year-old. He'll pitch in the Arizona Fall League this offseason, which could put him in line to contribute at the highest level at some point in 2017. While the free agent market offers nothing in the way of aces, the Astros can make a play for depth if they need to.

In all, you've got a young nucleus of position players that's the envy of almost every team, you've a lockdown bullpen coming back, and you've got a mix of rotation depth and upside. It says here that the Astros will actively address holes this winter and in 2017 return to the postseason while notching 90 or more wins for the first time since 2004.