Ken Davindoff of Baseball Insider judges each team in the majors on their offseason success.  He groups the teams into 4 categories: winners, winners with downside, losers with upside, and losers. Care to guess where the Astros rank?

If you said losers you are correct!

Davindorf: “Losers: 3. Houston: Despite some internal lobbying, GM Ed Wade wouldn’t even consider a one-year deal for Andy Pettitte”

Andy Pettitte? Really? That’s the reason why we are “losers”?  Would our rotation be that much more stable with another aging hurler?

I guess it was a short column and he couldn’t go in to detail.  If he could have I imagine he would have said that GM Ed Wade was handcuffed by the economic situation facing the Houston Astros instead of the whole Andy Pettitte bit.

Losers? Maybe.  We lost 2 key components to our second half push last season in IF/OF Ty Wigginton and SP Randy Wolf.  However, our pitching staff would still be considered suspect even with Wolf so I think the fact that we swapped Mike Hampton for Randy Wolf isn’t a big deal, as long as Mikey can stay healthy. He likes it!

And Ty? Well, you got me there.  Defensively he wasn’t real sharp but his missing bat is gonna hurt.  I think we start the season with a Blum Boone platoon (poet and didn’t know it) and, if Chris Johnson keeps up his Spring Training Numbers for the rest of March and continues to do well in AAA, he will be our 3rd baseman come June.  Maybe sooner.  Once this occurs, I think the Wiggy Wolf loss is gonna sting less.  Guess we will see.

Also, if Wade can have success with his Rule 5 draftees as he has in the past, Houston’s offseason could turn out better than people currently think.  Lou Palmisano and Gilbert De La Vara are both making a push to make the club out of Spring Training.  And if they can repeat Wesley Wright’s success of last season and make this club better, props to Ed Wade.

Of course, that is a lot of “ifs.”  As of now, Houston’s offseason looks unproductive, but the results of this season will be the true testimony to the clubs offseason moves.