2008 Houston Astros

February 18, 2008

In 2007 the Houston Astros said good-bye to one of the greatest to put on an Astros uniform in Craig Biggio. Biggio’s last season wasn’t a storybook ending for the team as they finished with a 73-89 record for fourth in the NL Central, though he did reach the 3,000 hit milestone before he hung them up. The team will keep bench coach Cecil Cooper as the manager of the team, after he replaced the fired Phil Garner late last season. While the team seemed to address the needs on the offense end, the pitching staff didn’t really get much help. The team traded pitchers Juan Gutierrez, Brad Lidge, and Chad Qualls from their bullpen, but they did bring in closer Jose Valverde from Arizona. The team brought in SS Miguel Tejada from Baltimore in hopes he can return the form that made him an all-star in Oakland and Baltimore. While the team will have a new look in 2008, it might not be the youth movement the fans were thinking of.

Pitching:

Other than team ace Roy Oswalt, the rest of the pitching staff has a lot to prove if the team wants to contend in 2008. Brandon Backe will be the number two starter after he had a successful return from Tommy John surgery. The bottom three of the rotation isn’t much to speak of. Wandy Rodriguez is still trying to figure things out and Woody Williams is 41 and at the end of his career. The fifth starter is still up for grabs between Chris Samson and Felipe Paulino. Valverde will make the loss of Lidge seem as though they never lost him. Where they hurt is in the bullpen the only real proven setup man they got is Doug Brocail who pitched for San Francisco last season.

Offense:

This should be a pretty solid unit as they still have big time sluggers in 1B Lance Berkman and LF Carlos Lee. Rookie sensation Hunter Pence will move from CF to RF to make room for the new addition of Michael Bourn who came in the trade with the Phillies for Lidge. Bourn is your leadoff hitter that has blazing speed who can bunt for base hits and beat out grounder at will. He will put big number up on the base paths as well with his great ability to steal bases. Rookie J.R. Towels will push aside veteran Brad Ausmus for the catching duties. Towels has great potential on both offense and defense and should be an upgrade overall at the position. The team brought in Kaz Matsui to fill the void at 2B, but the team is really hoping that Tejada can bring another big bat to the middle of the lineup. Tejada is facing some legal troubles that might cause him to miss some time in 2008.

Defense:

The defense should be average maybe slightly above average this year. The addition of Bourne’s speed to the outfield should make things a lot easier on Lee in LF. The infield should be pretty solid with the new tandem up the middle in Tejada and Matsui. The team really needs Towels to step in and keep the running game at a minimum to keep as few runners out of scoring position as possible. The pitching staff will need all the help they can get.

Prediction:

While the team might be able to finish around the .500 mark, we don’t see them finishing above 3rd in the division. They just don’t have enough pitching to be a serious threat. They will benefit from playing a pretty weak division after the top two of Milwaukee and Chicago.

2008 Houston Astros Odds to Win World Series 60 – 1

For every team’s odds head over to Bodog and check them out. You can also go to Bodog to look at the odds for teams to win their division or league pennant. Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section.

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2008 Houston Astros

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