The Astros upgraded their designated hitter spot by giving future Hall of Famer Carlos Beltran a one-year, $16 million deal that further signals their intentions to win now --while creating some surplus that they may need to address.

Beltran makes one of the best lineups in baseball even stronger for 2017, as he has been consistently around a .350 wOBA when healthy the past few years. He’s definitely changed his approach since his injury-wrecked 2014 season, selling out a little more for power at the expense of some OBP, but overall he has hit enough to be about a three-win DH, destroying left-handed pitching and hitting right-handers well enough that he’s still a full-time option. Although Beltran is 40 years old, getting him off the field completely might help offset some of the age-related decline we’d expect from a player crossing that threshold; he played about 500 innings in the outfield last year and was well below average anyway, so making him exclusively a DH is in the Astros’ best interests all around.

The two players most directly affected by the Beltran signing are prospect A.J. Reed and veteran Evan Gattis, the latter of whom was just brought back for 2017 a month ago, when the Astros picked up his $5.2 million option. Reed appears to be blocked right now, with Yulieski Gurriel the likely first baseman and Beltran at DH. Gurriel might be able to play a corner outfield spot, but the Astros have at least four outfielders -- George Springer, Josh Reddick, Jake Marisnick and Nori Aoki -- likely to take up all that playing time.