With the trade deadline a couple of weeks and the Astros facing a near insurmountable climb to even contend in the division, it’s time to figure out who to build the team around. While the Astros definitely have some nice parts, there’s also some holes as well and if you could deal a guy like Brad Lidge and fill some of those, then all the better.
One mistake that may be made is the Astros may trade Roy Oswalt. I think they should be looking to sign him to a long term deal instead but I don’t know if the Astros have tried and failed or not. Still, Oswalt has been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball the last few years and you don’t just give that away. I’d rather have a known commodity like Roy Oswalt then two or three pitching prospects who may never end up panning out. If Buehlre is worth what he got from the White Sox though, you’re talking about a historically high signing and with a lot of money going into guys like Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman, it may be hard to justify putting even more eggs into a single basket.
Hunter Pence is contending for a batting title and if he keeps this up, he should be a lock for Rookie of the Year. And that’s even after missing most of April down in the minors. The kid can hit, and he’s 0 for 2 today but he takes a nine game hitting streak into the game. And he could also easily belt 40 doubles this year, which is amazing because of that missed month.
And speaking of Oswalt, he got bumped for three runs by the Cubs so now the Astros are down 3-1. He also just failed to bunt the guy over. Anyway, Wandy Rodriguez gets the start tomorrow afternoon and if the Astros can’t come back today, it’ll be up to him to avoid the sweep.
