The 2014 Houston Astros were the best Astros team since 2010, though that wasn't saying much. The 70-92 season broke a streak of three consecutive years with at least 106 losses and was a 19-win improvement from 2013, the worst season in franchise history.

Still, manager Bo Porter was fired and has been replaced with A.J. Hinch. The Astros are also coming off a pretty bad year in terms of the last few drafts, as top prospect Carlos Correa broke his leg, there were issues with Mark Appel -- though he closed the season well -- and there was that whole Brady Aiken/Jacob Nix draft debacle.

Heading into 2015, the Astros' farm system is said to be good while the MLB team appears improved again. Let's take a look.

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Probable lineup

1. Jose Altuve, 2B
2. Luis Valbuena, 3B
3. George Springer, RF
4. Chris Carter, 1B
5. Colby Rasmus, LF
6. Evan Gattis, DH
7. Jason Castro, C
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Jake Marisnick, CF

Bench - C Hank Conger, 1B Jon Singleton, IF Marwin Gonzalez, 3B Matt Dominguez, OF Alex Presley (but unless the Astros carry one fewer pitcher than usual, one of these guys won't make it)

There's a roster crunch here. Robbie Grossman is still firmly in the mix, too, but I just feel like Singleton won't be sent down unless he's dreadful in the spring and Presley is out of options. The Astros love Marisnick in center, too. There's also plenty of flexibility in the starting lineup. Rasmus can play center. Gattis can play first or left. Carter is comfortable as a DH. Valbuena could cover second when Altuve needs a rest with Dominguez starting at third. The best guess is there won't be one starting lineup that is often used, but instead a general outline with fluid parts.

Probable rotation

1. RHP Scott Feldman
2. LHP Dallas Keuchel
3. RHP Collin McHugh
4. LHP Brett Oberholtzer
5. RHP Dan Straily

There's also Brad Peacock coming off injury and Roberto Hernandez (who was long ago Fausto Carmona, remember) is available. And, of course, watch out for 2013 No. 1 overall draft pick Mark Appel later in the season, so long as he stays healthy and throws well in the minors early on.

Probable bullpen

Closer - RHP Chad Qualls
Setup men - RHP Luke Gregerson, RHP Pat Neshek, LHP Joe Thatcher
Middle men - LHP Tony Sipp, RHP Josh Fields
Long man - RHP Roberto Hernandez

With Thatcher, Gregerson and Neshek, this is an area the Astros beefed up via free agency in the offseason.

Under-the-radar offseason transaction

Thatcher was brought on with a minor-league deal that'll only pay him $1 million (only if he makes the MLB team, of course) and the best bet is he's a bargain. In 24 innings for Arizona last season, he had a 2.63 ERA, 1.08 WHIP an 25 strikeouts against only three walks. He was traded to the Angels and immediately injured his ankle. He tried to pitch through pain late in the season and wasn't very good, but we can toss that out due to the ankle issue.

Further, in his career, Thatcher has held lefties to a .230/.289/.351 line. He's not a star, but he'll be able to get some big outs when it comes to left-handed hitters in the late innings.

Fantasy sleeper: Dallas Keuchel

Via the full Astros fantasy outlook by Al Melchoir:

After finishing each of his first two seasons with a 5.00-plus ERA, Keuchel was about the least likely breakout candidate you could find heading into 2014, but break out he did. Keuchel actually took some strides forward in the prior season -- better control and more whiffs and grounders -- but they went unnoticed largely due to a .344 BABIP. Last season, Keuchel continued to get more grounders and issue fewer walks, and when he did allow flyballs, they travelled 13 feet shorter on average (per BaseballHeatMaps.com). Keuchel was a top 40 starting pitcher, and even though there was nothing obviously fluky about his results, owners may underrate him simply because he's a mediocre strikeout pitcher. There is no reason to think he can't repeat as a viable No. 3 or 4 starter in mixed leagues, but you may be able to draft him well after the likes of Gio Gonzalez and Lance Lynn come off the board.

Biggest strength

Home run power. Despite only having one player with more than 20 homers (Springer had exactly 20), the Astros were third in the AL with 163 homers. In the offseason, they added Gattis and Rasmus, too, so that gives them four players who will top 20 homers with regular playing time in Carter, Springer, Gattis and Rasmus. And, really, it's not unreasonable to say the first three listed there could get north of 30. Carter is capable of 40.

A familiar sight: Chris Carter being congratulated for a homer.
A familiar sight: Chris Carter being congratulated for a homer. (USATSI)

Biggest weakness

Getting on base. Yeah, about that power ...

Even with the third-most homers in the AL last year, the Astros ranked 14th in runs. They had a batting champion in Altuve but still ranked last in average and 13th in on-base percentage. They did add a noted on-base guy in Valbuena this past offseason, but they sent out Dexter Fowler to get him. Fowler hit .276 with a .375 OBP last year while Valbuena was at .249 and .341.

Several areas are expected to improve, such as Springer and Singleton being better with more experience, Lowrie over last year's shortstops and Castro bouncing back from a down year.

Still, this is a problem. Unfortunately, a lot of those aforementioned homers will be of the solo variety.

Outlook

The Astros are definitely better than they were in the past several years and could contend if many different things break their way. Given the strength of the AL West, the strong young players, good farm system and that a 10-win improvement over last season would mean 80 wins, being one or even two years away seems much more likely than a playoff run in 2015. Still, with Altuve and the power, this team will be very fun to watch on offense and hanging in contention for a while isn't out of the question -- which is a nice contrast from the past four seasons.

Also, by the end of the year we'll have a good feeling on when Correa might hit the bigs. Maybe even very early in 2016? Get excited, Houston.

Coming Wednesday: Previewing the Yankees