I'm sick of all the "Anonymous" comments that turn out to be spam, so I turned on word verification. Basically, if you want to leave a comment (which you really should, I'm curious to see what you think), you have to type in a word that they tell you to, as if you were buying something online or whatnot.

Checking out Andy's latest post, I have to say I'm impressed...and depressed. I didn't realize our budget was that tight - I guess I was forgetting about Bagwell. It would be nice to move him to the AL where he could DH, but what team would take a chance on him? I think we're probably stuck with him. He's been rehabbing like a maniac, and I definitely think his hitting will be fine (maybe .270 / .380 / .470 = fine), but it's his throwing I'm worried about. I guess only time will tell.

I also like the idea of signing a cheap starter who can give us 200 IP at around a 4.00 ERA. In fact, I will go so far as to say that whether we do or not could make or break or season next year. It's just asking too much to have Wandy and Zeke be major-league starters next year. A Paul Byrd / Brett Tomko type is just what we need.

I also like the "better utility guy than Viz" thought. Ramon E. Martinez is a solid player, and I vividly remember going to an Astros game against the Cubs and Andy chose him as his "Cub Player of the Game". After I finished laughing, I proceeded to watch Mr. Ramon E. Martinez go 5-for-5. His stats haven't been too impressive the last few years, so I might suggest Damion Easley of the Marlins. He's going to be 36, but he has much more pop than Martinez and drawas a few more walks, and he's hit well on the road the last 2 years (746 OPS this year, 837 OPS the year before). I say sign him to a 1 year / 1.2 million dollar deal or so, and give Everett or Bidge the occasional day off.

Speaking of Biggio, you can say what you want about his 1 year / 4 million dollar deal (we need to play Burke more! But Biggio's going for 3,000 hits!), but the fact of the matter was this was inevitable. The Astros are not going to let go of Biggio and Bagwell until they are damn well ready, and this offseason isn't that time yet.

Oh, and Scott Eyre? Pretty good. Solid numbers against lefties, and still good against righties, too. Thumbs up.

I still like trying to trade for Johnny Estrada at catcher, but one more year of Ausmus, thought it pains me to say it, wouldn't be too bad. He put up a solid offensive year when we had to have it. Just don't give him a multi-year deal. PLEASE.