The Houston Astros and 4 MLB Franchises with Long Roads Ahead of Them

Baseball is a funny game. One decade your team is on top, and the next they're 17 games back in the division and wondering what happened.

Every team in sports experiences highs and lows, but it seems that in baseball, the climb from the bottom to the top is a particularly long one.

These five MLB franchises may just have the longest roads ahead of them as they work to climb back into playoff contention.

New York Mets

The Mets are by no means a bad baseball team, they just happen to be caught in a tough situation. That is, they're trying to compete in the NL East.

Not only is New York stuck behind the NL's two most dangerous teams in Philadelphia and Atlanta, but they also have two young, rapidly improving franchises in Florida and Washington right on their heels.

With superstars like Jose Reyes and David Wright on their roster, it's hard to count the Mets completely out. However, things just aren't looking so bright for the near future.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Financial issues set aside, 2011 has still been a rough season for the L.A. Dodgers. The Dodgers currently sit in last in the NL West and they may be in for a long haul for years to come. 

San Francisco appears to have the division locked down for now, and Arizona has burst onto the scene as one of the toughest, most explosive young teams in all of baseball.

If Los Angeles can somehow figure out their front office issues and possibly work to land a big-time bat like Albert Pujols during the offseason, they could improve drastically. Until then, however, L.A. fans don't have much to look forward to in the near future.  

Baltimore Orioles

At the beginning of this season, hopes were high for Buck Showalter's Baltimore Orioles. They had just brought in veteran bats Vladimir Guerrero and Derrek Lee, and their young pitching staff was the talk of the league.

Unfortunately for Baltimore fans... that was then, and this is now:

The Orioles are buried 25 games back in what is arguably the strongest division in baseball. Not only do they have the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays to worry about, but even the Toronto Blue Jays have proven to be a dangerous squad over the past few seasons.

Baltimore has some young talent, but not enough to make a difference in such a juggernaut of a division. They have struggled for several seasons now and I expect to see more of the same in the future.

Seattle Mariners

Seattle boasts some dominant young pitching, but their offensive line-up may be the weakest in the game. Regardless of how many studs they have in their rotation, the Mariners will continue to dwell in the basement of the AL West until they can bring in a major, game-changing bat.

On the bright side Dustin Ackley looks to be the real deal and Seattle was also able to stock up on young prospects at the trade deadline. A resurgence within the next few years isn't necessarily out of the question, but until those young prospects can prove themselves to be Major League ready there won't be much to look forward to in Seattle. 

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros have two of the game's most promising young outfielders on their roster in Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence...

Oh wait, no they don't.

Houston lost their two most valuable assets at this year's trade deadline. Considering that they compete in the NL Central, a division stacked with talented teams, the Astros may have the darkest of all MLB futures ahead of them.

Houston, you have a problem.