I am thinking no. This Scott guy might start the season in LF??



"Or what? Are you gonna sick the dogs?
Or the bees?
Or the dogs with bees in thier mouths so when they bark they shoot bees at you?
Do your worst" -Homer

No, but the Rangers bandwagon is leaving the station!

RELOAD WITH A VENGEANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"nice beaver", "thanks I just had it stuffed yesterday".

I wouldn't count out the Astros just yet. Yes, the division title will be very tough with the Cardinals there, but the 'stros should be able to stay in the wildcard race for most of the season.

The starting pitching is going to be pretty good. That is there edge on most other teams. Going to need at least 2 players to have career years offensively.

With oswalt, clemens,pettie and backe i dont care if micky mouse is playing in the feild your going to have a good team.

I've found that having hope in the Astros is sort of like looking at a star at night. If you're looking at other stars then it tends to glow bright and you can see it, but once you focus on it then you can't see it any more. It seems like the Stros always do well once nobody is paying attention and then come clutch time when everybody is watching... choke.

Ah, it's great to win a World Series after the history the Red Sox have had. Don't worry fans who's team has never won it....your time is coming.

Who's your daddy?

While not a Kerry...err....Red Sox fan, I like the guy's sentiment!

Pitching won't be their problem, but I think they may suffer from the same fate as the Ags - hitting and more importantly, clutch hitting.

Absolutely.

Especially since the have unloaded Redding to S.D.

'Luke' Scott is one hell of a prospect. He came to the Express last year as part of the Robertson trade, (Willy Taveras as well was acquired in the same trade). What a steal this has turned out to be.

Scott has crazy power and exploded upon his arrival to Round Rock. Taveras is a speed demon. If he wasn't injured last year, he would have broken the Texas League record for steals easily.

It was a pleasure to see them while we could.

If the pitching can hold up this year, I think the Cards will be pressed.

We really need Bags to step it up this year, he should get another 30 HR's, but we need some more clutch hits out of him in the 4 spot...I'm pretty convinced Biggio will have another good year, and a healthy Berkman is always dangerous. There are several guys who hit right around .275 last year, who could really turn it up at the plate this year I think...I think this will be another exciting season for the stros...Although not quite as exciting as last...

Willy Taveras 6'0" 160lbs...wow, I'm quite a bit bigger than he is.

With our starting pitching I think our bats will be less of a problem than most people think. The biggest issue we'll have this year, like last year, will be the bullpen and being able to hold onto leads before we can get it to Lidge.

-Nick-

I am a HUGE Stros fan and though last season should have been our year with how the team was stacked .... anything can happen in baseball. Look at the rangers last year ,,,, the cubs SUCK and the cards are always one injury away from not having a lineup worth anything...... imho

It's probably unwise to put too much hope into any Houston sports teams. Hopes have generally been dashed too many times in the past.

The Astros may have missed their best chance last season with the current era of main players but as noted above funny things can happen in basebal.

I look at the current Astros lineup as an old boat with lots of leaks taking on water. So long as the wind doesn't crop up causing waves to swamp it, we may survive and make it to shore.

Given that I may be starting for the Cubs before its all done, and the rest of the division outside of St. Louis is pretty much guaranteed to be awful, I would say the Astros have a pretty decent chance to make the playoffs.

It's going to be rough for the 'Stros. You can't start that many rookies and expect everything to go smooth.

Offensively, there are problems. For the Scott, Taveras, and Lane in the outfield for the opener? No vetern presense. I'm more comfortable with the infield though again Biggio and Bagwell are one year older. The biggest question for the lineup will be when Berkman comes back. I'm not sold on him carrying a team. Besides being a slow starter (remember that one April when he had one extra base hit?), he is too often content to take a walk instead of a swing. Can he change his outlook to swing at a few more pitches?

The pitching is better, but not without worry. Clemens is old, but I don't know how worried I would be about that. Oswalt has had some injuries in his career. Pettite is an unknown. Lidge will shorten games, but he is only there for one inning. Injuries will determine the success of this rotation as the Astros have too many holes to plug already.

The biggest advantage the Astros have is their division. I would be a little concerned about the Reds and Brewers playing spoilers this year, but that's all they will be. The Cubs need Prior, 2003 Prior. The Cardinals will be the true test, but they have had the best offseason of anyone in the division. Not good news when you are trying to catch them.

At some point the Astro's fans need to realize that last year was an all or nothing shot. The team knew it and that's why they let Kent go. He wouldn't be around in a few years for the next push. Clemens was brought back to keep some karma from last year, and maybe rub off some on Oswalt and Backe. But with as young as they are, this team is planning like the Indians.

(As a Twins fan, I know there can be joy in overacheiving. Just don't expect the World Series.)

I would have to agree with Farmer John. The Astros have a lot of question marks. Oswalt will almost definitely be money. Clemens will do well if healthy but he will usually only get Houston six innings, sometimes seven. Backe did well in the post-season but was Jeckyl and Hyde during the regular season. Pettite is good but he's an injury concern as well.

Bags and Biggio are old and I don't see Biggio repeating last years numbers. Bagwell's production will go down and he's a defensive vulnerability. Everett and Ensberg will be bright spots in the infield. I think Lane will catch a lot of people by surprise. Berkman will take a while to get back on track but I don't think he'll reach full stride this season, at least not until late.

Lidge has been called the best closer in the majors but they'll have to get the ball to him. Houston's middle relief was bad last year and since then they've picked up Burba and Franco. I don't see that being much of an upgrade.

[This message has been edited by bluestainedivy (edited 3/29/2005 4:44p).]