Alyson Footer from astros.mlb.com reports that all is well for the Magic Wandy and Chad Paronto:

“By the end of the workday Wednesday, two Astros pitchers had breathed sighs of relief — Chad Paronto, after discovering his shoulder injury isn’t as serious as he first thought, and Wandy Rodriguez, after pitching four innings without feeling any lingering effects from a fingernail issue that hampered him in his last outing.”

Although Coop wont come right out and say it, it looks like Wandy will be the clubs number 2 starter while Paronto will probably start the year in Round Rock.

JJO on Wandy at chon.com: “Although Cecil Cooper has been coy about how he will line up his rotation, it appears evident that the Astros want to at least have Rodriguez lined up as an option to start the second game of the season.

Barring a setback, Rodriguez will start Saturday on three days of rest instead of the usual four. That would put him in line to start an exhibition game again on April 2 and then April 7 against the Chicago Cubs on the second day of the season.

“We’re going to bring him back a little sooner so we can try to line him up a little bit,” Cooper said.

Asked what he was lining Rodriguez up for, Cooper retreated back into his recent stance.

“I’m lining it up,” he said with a chuckle. “You can figure it and fumble all you want.”

Cooper was pleased after watching Rodriguez throw four scoreless innings to beat the Mets 8-0 Tuesday at Osceola County Stadium.”

According the Jason Stark of ESPN.com Geoff Geary is on the market.

“ATTENTION SHOPPERS: A few extra parts who are being made available right now: Blue Jays reliever Shawn Camp, Astros reliever Geoff Geary, Royals catcher John Buck, Phillies outfielder Geoff Jenkins. Counting Jenkins’ $1.25 million buyout of his 2010 option, he’s still owed $8 million. The Phillies have offered to pay “almost all of it,” according to one club, but still haven’t found a taker.”

The club could be looking to ship Geary and perhaps replace him with Dilbert De La Vara in hopes of getting someone to play 3rd.

Stark also covers a few more Astros tid bits in the article, including possibles for third base.

The Big Lead takes a look at some of the numbers of the early 90’s Houston Astros through a steroid lense.

Hat Tip, Baseball Musings

According to Alyson Footer of astros.mlb.com, the Astros will not be signing Pudge Rodriguez.  When asked about the free agent catcher, this is what Ed Wade had to say:

“We’re not signing Pudge,” Wade said. “Put that one to rest. We have no expectation to sign Pudge.”

Can’t get much clearer than that.

There are some rumors out there that some teams are inquiring on the availablilty of Mark Loretta and Darin Erstad. In my opinion I wouldn’t mind giving up either or both of those guys if we got some pieces that could help us next year. It would take a miracle for the Astros to turn things around this year, although it is possible, so I would like to see some young guys come in for our veteran players.

I have also seen some stories about the Angels scouting Miguel Tejada. I don’t know if there is much truth to that rumor, but it would be odd to see Wade give up on Tejada so soon. Of course, the Angels are loaded with prospects, and getting some of those instead of paying Tejada’s hefty contract could be nice. I still like all the intangibles that Tejada brings to the team.

Some other good news is that Ed Wade has said that the team has put an offer on the table for first round pick Jason Castro. It would be nice to get him signed and in the minors. The guy I really hope we can sign is high school pitcher Ross Seaton. I think he is a great prospect, and from what Wade is saying, both sides want to work a deal.

Our first round pick in 2005, pitcher Brian Bogusevic out of Tulane, has been converted to an outfielder. He got sent down to Salem from Corpus Christi to work his way up. He just could never get it going as a pitcher. Brian was surprised by the move, but evidently the front office has been thinking about making the switch for awhile. So far so good though, as he went 1-1 with an RBI and a walk in his first appearance as an outfielder.

Since his arrival as GM, Ed Wade has never been one to wait to make his moves. I would bet that we could see some minor trades in the next week or so, so stay tuned!

Two days after Milwaukee acquired C.C. Sabathia from the Indians, the Cubs have traded for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from Oakland.

The Cubs sent Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, and Josh Donaldson to the A’s in return for the two pitchers. I don’t know too much about Donaldson, but he is supposed to be a quality catching prospect. I think this trade is pretty lopsided in favor of the Cubs, with the only risk the Cubs are taking is that Harden stays healthy. I’m surprised Oaklands GM Bean would take so little. I thought he wanted a bounty almost as much as he got for Dan Haren. If Harden can stay healthy the Cubs have a great 1-2 punch in him and Carlos Zambrano for the next 2 years at least.

The recent trades of the Brewers and Cubs has to make the Astros think about their plan going forward. The Cubs will stay good for awhile, but the Brewers seem to be trying to win this year, even if they lose Ben Sheets and Sabathia next year. In my opinion, I believe we should stop thinking about this year and focus on building for the future. Even if we made the playoffs this year, and that’s a big if, I can’t see us making it deep.

The Astros need to do something to keep up with their division rivals because the Cardinals are still good, and the Reds are only getting better. It would be nice to see some good trades before the deadline. We made some this winter to try and win now, and that hasn’t worked. It is time for plan B.

Hopefully I’ll have a nice game review to write tonight, stay tuned…

AstrosHomePlate is a brand new Houston Astros Baseball blog.  We will be blogging about everything involving the Houston Astros.  From daily game reviews, to Astros draft and trade rumors, we will have it all here at Astroshomeplate.

We hope you take part in our discussions and leave comments voicing your opinions.  It should be another exciting year for the Houston Astros as well.  Can the Astros get back on top of the Central Division in the Nationall League and compete with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs?  Lets us ks know what you think!