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Today we continue to march through the NL Central, and we find ourselves down in Houston to take a peek at those Astros. The Astros were better than you think last season, finishing with the 4th best record in the NL. How will they do this year? That's what I hope to figure out, along with some help from Bob Hulsey of Astrosdaily.com.

The Houston Astros

Last Season’s Result: 86-75

Major Offseason Changes

• Added SP Mike Hampton (Signed from Atlanta)
• Added 3B Aaron Boone (Signed from Washington)
• Added RF Jason Michaels (Signed from Pittsburgh)
• Added C Toby Hall (Signed from Chicago White Sox)
• Added SP Russ Ortiz (Signed)
• Lost SP Randy Wolf (Signed with LA Dodgers)
• Lost 3B Ty Wigginton (Signed with Baltimore)
• Lost 2B Mark Loretta (Signed with LA Dodgers)
• Lost C Brad Ausmus (Signed with LA Dodgers)

Letter Grades

• Offseason Moves: D The Houston Astros didn’t do much to improve their team this offseason. The team quietly won 86 games in 2008 and had the 4th best record in the NL. After Milwaukee lost their top two pitchers the chance was there for the Astros to add a piece or two and become wild card favorites. The Astros decided against being aggressive, and instead kept the roster pretty much intact from last season. They swapped crappy catcher Brad Ausmus for crappy catcher Toby Hall. They also signed often-injured lefty Mike Hampton to replace often-injured lefty Randy Wolf.

• Rotation Grade: D+ The Astros feature Roy Oswalt at the top of their rotation, and he is as good as you can get at the top. Wandy Rodriguez had a nice season in 2008 and appears like he has a future as a very good number-3 type guy. The problem is that Wandy is the Astros’ #2, and there is nothing behind him. The Astros will fill out the rotation with a combination of Brandon Backe, Brian Moehler, Mike Hampton, and Russ Ortiz.

• Bullpen Grade: C Jose Valverde returns after a very good ’08. Valverde saved 44 games and gives the bullpen a solid closer to build around. The guys around him are solid, and frankly, unspectacular.

• Lineup Grade: C The lineup has few solid producers in Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman, but will again be well behind the NL’s best. The team needs better production from the top of the order so their masher have guys to drive in.

Player most closely linked to team’s 2009 hopes: Michael Bourn. The starting pitching on this team is suspect at best. If the Astros expect to compete in 2009 they’ll need to score a lot of runs. Getting a better OBP from Bourne, possibly the league’s fastest player, would give the Astros a scoring threat every time he reaches base.

Biggest Breakout Star Potential: Michael Bourn. Bourn will be given every chance to turn into a star, hopefully he makes the most of it. Bourne has tremendous speed, and with all the RBI machines behind him, it’s not crazy to think that he could lead the league in runs scored in the next few years.

Best Case Scenario: Bourn pans out, and gives them a leadoff threat. Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton make more starts than they miss, and Brandon Backe is not counted on as a starter.

Worst Case Scenario: Bourn struggles to start the year again, and is banished to the bottom of the order. Neither Ortiz nor Hampton pan out and the rotation becomes a disaster after Oswalt.

Prediction for 2009: 77-85. Not too terrible, but far from what they were able to do in 2008.

Local Thoughts

By: Bob Hulsey, the Curator at AstrosDaily.com

• Letter Grade for Offseason Moves: D. They entered the off-season thinking they would re-sign Randy Wolf and trade Jose Valverde and Ty Wigginton who were arbitration eligible. But they had to change plans once they saw the glut of relievers available in free agency and realized there were no good offers for Valverde. Instead, they re-signed Valverde, letting Wolf and Wigginton leave without compensation. Stopgaps like Mike Hampton, Aaron Boone and Jason Michaels do little to inspire confidence. The late signing of Russ Ortiz may actually be their best move.

• Most Essential: Unquestionably, it's Roy Oswalt. The shaky rotation would implode if Oswalt were to miss significant time or pitch like he did the first half of last season. He turned it on in the second half and you saw what it did for the rest of the team.

• Breakout Potential: Everyone in Houston hopes the answer will be Michael Bourn, the outfielder we got from Philly in the Lidge trade. If he can hit .260-.270 and raise his OBP 50 points, it solves issues in the lineup and in the outfield. If he can't, the Astros will use injury-prone Kaz Matsui to lead off when he's more valuable in the second spot. Catcher J.R. Towles will get another shot after a disasterous 2008 season. If you have fantasy guys looking for an unknown to watch, keep the name Chris Johnson handy. He's a third baseman who will be starting in 2010 if not sooner. The ball jumps off his bat.

• Prediction for 2009: This is a team that usually winds up better than the sum of their parts but, on paper, I'm guessing 75 wins is realistic. That will put them in third or fourth place.