My grades on the Astros this season

[bobcatfan]

Lance Berkman: B - Had one of the hottest stretches during the month of may that i've ever seen.  He struggled in july and september, and most of the 2nd half when the astros made their run and needed him most.  His bottom line numbers were only ok compared to some of his previous seasons.

Carlos Lee: A- -  If not for his broken finger, i think he wouldve been the astros MVP this season.  Despite having over 100 less ABs, his numbers are very similar to berkman.

Miguel Tejada: C+ - Started out with a great April and was only decent the rest of the way.  He was an upgrade at SS offensively, but astros fans were expecting more like 20hr,80-100 rbis, not 13hr, 66 rbi, especially hitting in front of berkman. He was a little better than i expected defensively, but hes no adam everett.. 

Ty Wigginton: B+ - Was having an ok season, then Lee went down with an injury, and Wiggy caught fire and carried the team in august and was a big part of their late season run.  His willingness to play out of position and play Lee's position was admirable and he did a decent job there.

Kaz Matsui: B - In his first season with the astros he was better than i expected. He played very good defense and worked the count better than anyone on the team. I thought he made a good leadoff man too.  His biggest problem was injuries and staying on the field.

Hunter Pence: B - He put up 25 hr, 83 rbi, 279 ba in his first full season. Maybe a little below expectations, but still not bad.  He did play a great right field though and i saw improvement in his plate discipline at the end of the year so there is reason for encouragement going into next season.

Geoff Blum: B+ - Put up career highs in homers and rbis so you could say he exceeded expectations.  He filled in nicely when Wiggy moved to left and Blum came up big in a few spots late in the season. His average prevented him from a higher grade.

Michael Bourn: C - Played a good center field and was a very good base stealer.  He wasnt a good leadoff hitter though and had a bad average.  He did show some improvement in the last month of the season, so lets hope that carries over to next year.

Darin Erstad: A- - Did a real good job pinch hitting and filled nicely in spot starts. I thought he was a good addition to the team this year.

Brad Ausmus: C - He does about what you expect and that is put up below average offensive numbers, i'm not too disappointed hes retiring.

Roy Oswalt: B+ - Despite putting up a career high in home runs allowed and ERA, this was a very good season for Oswalt.  He didnt have a good first half, but he played through injuries. He gave up less hits than IP, his K/BB ratio and whip was good, and his batting average allowed was his best since 03'.  Lets not forget the club record scoreless innings streak...

Wandy Rodriguez: B - Put up pretty good numbers and injuries shortened what couldve been a pretty good season. He had a nice 3.54 era but only pitched 137 innings

Brian Moehler: B+ - Was inserted in the rotation after the first month of the season and did a pretty solid job, putting up double digit wins and a 4.50 era that was below 4 at the end of august.

Randy Wolf: A- - Was a surprise pickup at the end of the season and went on to go 6-2 with and era around 3.50 and the astros were 10-2 in his starts.  He was one of the reasons for the astros late season surge.

Brandon Backe: F - When you throw only 166 innings in 31 starts and manage an ERA over 6 what grade should you expect? He was wildly inconsistent and got worse at the end of the season. His future as an astros is definitely up in the air.

Geoff Geary: B+ - Came in in the Lidge deal and put up a 2.53 era, which was much better than i expected.  He turned out to be a pretty good arm in the bullpen.

Wesley Wright: B- - Was a surprise player to make the roster and did pretty good most of the year, he did taper off at the end to have a subpar era.

Latroy Hawkins: A+ - He was almost perfect after coming to the Astros, giving up only 1 ER in 21 IP, and was an important part of the bullpen late in the season.

Chris Sampson: B+ - Struggled as a starter for the first few months, then accepted his role as a reliever and went on to post a sub 3 era as a reliever.

Doug Brocail: B - Was the setup guy most of the year and did a pretty good job for a guy you didnt know what to expect from.

Jose Valverde: A- - After struggling in the first month and blowing 3 saves, he went on to blow only 4 more saves the rest of the season and led the NL in saves with 44.

Cecil Cooper: B+ - He made some moves throughout the season that i questioned and i thought before the season this team could be under .500 and they exceeded that.  He should be praised for bringing the team back to contention...

Ed Wade: B - Bourn and Villareal didnt work out too well, but Valverde, Erstad, Geary, Brocail, Matsui, Wolf and Hawkins all worked out.  I'd say his deals had mixed results.

[Guest Orangeboy]

Pretty interesting thoughts. I was happy to see them get back in a race. They did much better than I though, but you look at when they got hot was when Lee got hurt. Personally I would love to see them deal Lee for maybe a Jake Peavy.

[Ruckdad]

Lee has a no trade clause, and he was their best offensive player this year. On an offense that was below average (statistics wise) why would you want to do that when there are FA pitchers out there that you could go after, i.e. Ben Sheets?

[bobcatfan]

Pretty interesting thoughts. I was happy to see them get back in a race. They did much better than I though, but you look at when they got hot was when Lee got hurt. Personally I would love to see them deal Lee for maybe a Jake Peavy.

You can forget about the Padres trading Peavy for Lee.  The point of trading Peavy for them is that he would be a salary dump, so trading for Lee's even bigger salary wouldnt make sense. The only way we get Peavy is if we offer them prospects, if we have any to give...

[Gabe]

I think you went soft on the grades.  I think with the players on the Astros they should have contended for NL Central and at the very least won the wild card

[bobcatfan]

I think you went soft on the grades.  I think with the players on the Astros they should have contended for NL Central and at the very least won the wild card

Gabe, i think you are the only person in the media in the US that thought that.  Every mlb expert had the astros at the very best 3rd in the division and many had them getting 4th or 5th.  Vegas, who knows a lot more than you and me, had the astros projected at 75 wins this season.  The astros won 86 games (in 161 games) with a rotation with Roy Oswalt (who had a below average 1st half), oft injured Wandy Rodriguez, overachieving Brian Moehler, absolutely horrible Backe, and most of the season without Wolf.  They played their last 2 months without their best offensive player this year, Carlos Lee.  And they came back despite a poor Berkman 2nd half.  Looking at all those facts, and the expectation they would be under .500 with a full team, winning 86 games is pretty dang good.  So i think the players that contributed to those surprising 86 wins should receive some decent grades.  Look at the Brewers and the Cubs, they had better teams and better rotations going into the season than the Astros, so its no surprise they had better records.  Do you really think we shouldve won the central or the wild card?  I think you're delusional if you really think that based on all the factors...  You also said a couple years ago that we should trade Berkman, how about that now....

[Gabe]

Sure, why not trade him if the right deal comes around?? Two Grade A pitchers and a prospect INF for Berkman and somone else would be a great deal. I would trade Berkman if and only if the right deal comes along. If Babe Ruth can be traded, Lance Berkman can be.

As for as this season, why couldnt the Astros contend? Its not like the NL Central was some beast of a division. The Astros blew it on games against the Pirates and teams of that caliber, losing when they should not be. Swept by the Pirates right after beating the Red Sox if I remember right. Why not expect more out of a team with BERKMAN, Lee, Tejada, Matsui, Pence and Bourne? That is a pretty darn good lineup and the pitching was not too shabby this year just underperformed at times, ie Backe. If you dont expect the best out of your team, why pull for them? If that was the case, Id go live in Pittsburgh during baseball season. Sorry for always expecting the best out of the teams I root for no matter what the case is.