MLB Preview: Houston Astros

Astros run of success in the NL finally came to an end last season, as the team was riddled with inconsistent pitching and a rash of ill informed front office decisions ultimately has led to the demise of the team.

The good news for the Astros is that they find themselves in one of baseball's weakest divisions so their rebuilding could be short lived. That is if the Astros decided to rebuild this off-season, the front office made one last gasp for contention by bringing in Miguel Tejada for what was remaining in the Majors weakest farm system. It remains to be seen if this will be enough to keep the Astros clinging to their faint hopes of contending in 2008.

Now it's time to answer three questions about the Houston Astros in 2008.

(1) Who will pitch on this team after Roy Oswalt?

The Astros have perhaps one of the games best pitchers, but unfortunately they have absolutely nothing behind him in terms of the starting rotation. The team is hoping Wandy Rodriguez has turned the corner after lowering his ERA by a full run last season. Rodriguez still nibbles around the plate and projects to be nothing more than a fourth starter in his career.

The Astros will also be using Woody Williams in the rotation, it was clear two seasons ago with the Padres that Williams was no longer a guy you could count on to pitch an effective 200 innings. The good news with Williams is that he's been relatively healthy over the previous two seasons, but he simply is no longer an effective major league starting pitcher.

The Astros may be relying on Brandon Backe for the #2 slot in their rotation, and this is despite the fact that he has missed the majority of the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery. Backe had a good stretch in the post-season during 2005 with Houston, but he simply is not going to be able to get the job done for Houston.

The good news for the Astros rotation is that they will get plenty of run support from one of the games best lineups, but even that doesn't appear to be enough with this rotation. The Astros pitchers should also benefit by the acquisition of Kaz Matsui from the Rockies. Matsui is one of the best 2nd baseman defensively in the game as he covers more range then perhaps any 2nd baseman in all of baseball.

That good news is offset by the fact that the Astros play in one of the best hitters parks in the Majors, and with Woody Williams and others being fly ball pitchers the official scorer will become a very busy man in Houston.

(2) Was the acquisition of Miguel Tejada another mistake by the front office?

The Houston front office has had their share of mistakes over the years, as the farm system has become absolutely devoid of talent now that Hunter Pence is in the big leagues. This deal does make some sense in the fact that they didn't give up any A level prospects to acquire Tejada.

Miguel Tejada still has some hits left in his bat, and despite the fact that his consecutive games streak came to an end last season, he still adds value by simply playing everyday. The mistake Houston did make was letting Adam Everett depart to the Twins, Houston would have been much better off had they switched Tejada to third base. Everett is arguably the games best defensive shortstop, and despite the fact that Tejada is one of the games best hitting shortsops, his defensive range has decreased substantially over the years.

Tejada will still add some value to Houston, but it remains to be seen if this team is really that close to contending with all of the holes in their rotation.

(3) Is it time for Houston to suck it up and start their rebuilding project?

Unless you are the Pittsburgh Pirates, it is hard to take the rebuilding route in the NL Central, after all during the past two seasons if you were close to 500 you would have been in the race until the final weekend. That being said, the Houston Astros have been holding off their rebuilding project for two years now, and their farm system has suffered the consequences.

The Astros have virtually nothing left in their farm system, so even if they are contending they will not have the chips to be able to acquire someone near the trading deadline. The front office did make some moves that could help the team long term by acquiring OF Michael Bourn from the Phillies. Bourn gives this team some added help in defense and will move Hunter Pence to his more natural position in RF.

The team replaced Brad Lidge with Jose Valverde, and although Valverde is highly inconsistent, he did post 47 saves on the NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks. The team also improved itself defensively with the before mentioned acquisition of Kaz Matsui. The team probably gave itself 5 to 10 more wins this season by making those moves, the problem is if they are on the edge of contention, they will be reluctant to deal those players for much needed prospects. The Astros are making a big gamble that they will be able to make the playoffs this year, otherwise they may not get anything for some of their key trading chips, when they finally do decide it's time to rebuild.

The 2008 Houston Astros entire season will come down to how well the cast of characters behind Roy Oswalt fares. The team has very little to worry about offensively as Lance Berkman continues to post solid numbers, and Carlos Lee put up impressive power numbers last year as well.

If nothing else Houston will be amongst the most exciting teams this season as they will probably play many games in double digits. Houston fans can only hope they will be on the winning side of the majority of those games.