USA Today and Fox Sports have recently made their first Power Rankings for the 2009 season.  Both rank the Astros at the beginning of this season close to where the club finished last season.

USA Today has Houston in the middle of the pack.  They rank Houston 15th out of 30 teams in Major League Baseball, 8th of 15 teams in the National League, and 4th out of 6 teams in the National League Central.

Fox Sports puts Houston in the middle of the pack as well, ranking the Astros 16th in the Majors.  They also rank Houston 8th in the NL but move them up to 3 in the NL Central division.

Houston’s spot in the middle is warranted considering the questions surrounding their starting rotation going into the season.  I would probably rank them above the Cardinals in the NL Central and possibly 6th in the NL.  I’ll keep the clubs power rankings updated through out the year as the various news outlets flip-flop.