Houston

Now this is what I'm talking about!

As reported on the Houston Astros' website, Brett Myers has signed a one year contract worth around five million dollars. This signing not only brings another veteran presence with playoff experience to the ball-club, it also relieves the pressure on the younger starters, such as Yorman Bazardo and Felipe Paulino that were expected to step up into the rotation. 

From this point, and looking at past performances, I believe that the starting rotation will look something like this when the Astros begin the season:

Roy Oswalt

I am not an Astros fan. I'm actually a Phillies fan, but I decided that to improve my knowlede of the minor leagues, I would make a top 10 list for each team. My Oakland and Arizona lists are done, and I moved on to the 'Stros. Since I am not a fan of the team, you may sit there at some point and say, "How do you not have ______ on the list?" If that's the case, tell me PLEASE. If I neglected to mention something about a certain prospect, please let me know. I now present to you the 2010 Houston Astros Top 10 Prospects (from a Phillies fan point of view).

Baseball may not be on the hearts and minds of many right now, but it will be in the next couple of months.

In part one of this series of seven on the Houston Astros baseball team, we took an in-depth look at the potential pitching rotation for next year’s team.

If you're a regular reader of "Here's a Thought," you probably know that I don't like to use ERA very much.

Instead, I prefer FIP, tRA, and xFIP when discussing pitchers. The statistics are just luck-adjusted ERAs, so they slot in nicely to ERA's "traditional" statistical role.

Michael Bourn is now amongst the cream of the crop in terms of MLB defensive talent.

On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Bourn was named as a Gold Glove winner; and he’s the first Houston Astros outfielder to win the award since Cesar Cedeno (1972-1976).

The Los Angeles Dodgers flew down to Houston riding high after sweeping their opening homestand against the Giants and Rockies, and having won a total of eight straight games. The Astros help bring them back to Earth taking the first two games of the series before the pitching of Chad Billingsley (pictured above) prevented a sweep in the final game.

Manny Ramirez continued his torrid batting, going 5-for-12 with five RBI. It wasn't enough however, as the Dodgers struggled to deliver in the clutch, a measly combined 3-for-29 with runners in scoring position.

This is easily the best prediction for the NL Central I have encountered so far. Here is what he has for Houston and where each team will finish:

Houston Astros

Since their appearance in the 2005 World Series, the Astros have constantly been given very low expectations, preseason. This season is no different, with many figuring the Astros will only be a .500 team. However, I believe that if the teams stays somewhat healthy, it have a real chance to surprise some people.