But on the cover of its June 30 issue that year, Sports Illustrated made an audacious claim , declaring the woebegone Astros “Your 2017 World Series champions.”

SI editor-in-chief Chris Stone felt the quality of the article merited a cover, but putting a perennially bad club like the Astros on the front of the magazine required a strong hook.

“Honestly, I think we were all a little jealous of Springer getting the cover,” said World Series Game 1 starter Dallas Keuchel, now in his sixth season with the Astros.

By the spring of 2017, SI’s prediction no longer seemed ridiculous: Built around a great nucleus of young players mostly gathered during those years, the Astros enjoyed winning seasons in 2015 and 2016, then added veterans like Brian McCann, Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran to fortify their roster.

But despite the 2014 claim, Sports Illustrated ‘s editors did not pick the Astros to win a championship in its MLB season preview this year.