The moment the Astros hired Ed Wade as their new general manager, he
picked up a telephone and started making deals. Trader Wade dealt closer
Brad Lidge to Philadelphia, brought in shortstop Miguel Tejada and closer Jose
Valverde and signed several available arms. The improved offense should be
able to score plenty of runs. But can the pitching staff, with no standout
starter after Roy Oswalt, get outs soon enough and often enough to make
those runs stand up?
Rotation There are few more dependable pitchers in baseball than Oswalt
with his career 112–54 record and 3.07 ERA. He keeps the Astros in virtually
every game he starts. If he could pitch three times per week, Houston would
probably be in the World Series. The biggest question mark for the club is who
comes after Oswalt. The key is Brandon Backe, who underwent elbow surgery
in September 2006 and returned to pitch the final month of the ’07 season. If
he is 100 percent healthy and can be consistently good, he could help solve the Astros’ problems. Lefthander Wandy Rodriguez is a logical choice at one spotwith Chris Sampson, who started 19 times last year, earning a place in the rotation as well. Woody Williams was the No. 3 starter last year and pitched adequately in the second half of the season. But at 41 he is unlikely to improve. He will be challenged by Shawn Chacon.
Bullpen Wade made a big splash in the bullpen. He acquired Valverde, who saved 47 games for the Diamondbacks last year. Setup man Chad Qualls went to Arizona in the deal, and Dan Wheeler was traded for Ty Wigginton during the season, meaning that the end of the bullpen will be completely new. Dave Borkowski went from a mop-up guy in 2006 to an important member of the pen in ’07 and could be a key setup guy this year. Veterans Geoff Geary and Doug Brocail should help out somewhere in the mix. There are no lefthanders in the mix, which will present matchup problems.
Middle Infield Kaz Matsui signed as a free agent from the NL champion Colorado Rockies. He should be an improvement defensively, and he hit a solid .288 last year. But Tejada is the big prize. Adam Everett was one of the best defensive shortstops in the game, but a .240 hitter doesn’t cut it when there are other weak spots in the lineup. Tejada will never be the fielder that Everett was, but his bat should more than make up for that. He hit .296 with 18 homers last season in a down year. Mark Loretta can play either position and started half the season at shortstop last year after Everett was injured. He hits wherever he is and is more than adequate defensively. Newly acquired Geoff Blum can also play second.
Corners Lance Berkman’s numbers, particularly his batting average (.278), weren’t up to his usual high standards. Based on his career .300 average, last season must be viewed more as an anomaly than a trend. He can hit for average, hit for power, and he proved to be a better first baseman than expected after taking over full-time from Jeff Bagwell. The Astros finally gave up on Morgan Ensberg last year after acquiring Wigginton to play third. He’s not Ensberg defensively, but he hits better. With Loretta and Blum both capable third basemen, there’s plenty of depth at the position.
Outfield Carlos Lee returns in left field, but there will be a shift in center and right. Lee proved he was worth his huge contract of $100 million for six years. He turned in an outstanding offensive year, hit in the clutch and played decent defense in Minute Maid’s compact left field. Hunter Pence, last year’s phenom, will move from center to right to make room for Michael Bourn, who arrived from Philadelphia in the Lidge trade. Pence has starred at every level, so there’s no reason to believe that last year’s numbers were a mirage. He didn’t get a real good jump on balls sometimes and relied on his speed to run them down. He should be better in right field. Bourn has limited experience in the majors, but Wade, the former GM of the Phillies, should know what he’s getting. Veteran Darin Erstad, who signed a one-year contract in December, could be the fourth outfielder. Jose Cruz Jr., signed to a minor league deal, is also in the mix.
Catching J.R. Towles so impressed the Astros in his September call-up that the team is ready to hand him the starting job. He played in only 14 games, but he hit .375 and showed plenty of defensive skills. Veteran Brad Ausmus will stick around as a catcher/coach. It will be a long time before Towles learns to handle pitchers as well as Ausmus, but even a mediocre year at bat would be an improvement. Ausmus drove in only 25 runs all season. Humberto Quintero returns for spot duty.
Bench Loretta could probably start at second or third base for several teams. He’s a career .298 hitter with a dependable glove who can play all four infield positions. Blum is similar to Loretta, with a little more power and less of an average. He’d be a stretch at shortstop but can play second or third with no problem. The catching situation is better with Ausmus as a backup. Erstad will be a valuable fourth outfielder/pinch hitter.
Management The Astros open the season under new management. Wade was hired to replace the fired Tim Purpura at the end of last season. Wade certainly didn’t go the status quo route, making several major trades. Cecil Cooper was promoted from bench coach on Aug. 27 and named interim manager, succeeding Phil Garner. He went 15–16 the rest of the season, trying to look at the September call-ups and win games at the same time. He was awarded with a two-year contract before the season ended.
Final Analysis Wade insists that when he put this team together, he wasn’t trying to build a club that could only win by outscoring the opposition. “It’s a dangerous proposition,” he admits. “You need to pitch, you need to play defense.” But there was a dearth of pitching among free agents in the offseason, forcing the Astros go with what they’ve got for starters. Will that be enough to compete in the NL Central? It should be. It’s tough to tell how good Milwaukee and St. Louis will be. But Houston should put up enough runs to be in most games.
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