Where: Kissimmee, Florida (Grapefruit League) 2007 record: 73-89 (4th, NL Central) New guys: Reggie Abercrombie, Michael Bourn, Doug Brocail, Jack Cassel, Darin Erstad, Geoff Geary, Kazuo Matsui, Chad Paronto, Miguel Tejada, Jose Valverde, Oscar Villarreal Gone guys: Matt Albers, Josh Anderson, Craig Biggio, Eric Bruntlett, Chris Burke, Adam Everett, Jason Jennings, Mike Lamb, Brad Lidge, Mark Loretta, Trever Miller, Brian Moehler (NRI), Eric Munson, Orlando Palmeiro, Troy Patton, Chad Qualls, Luke Scott Wow, he’s still here? Are you kidding? Look at that list of “gone guys.” Anyone who might have been disappeared was. Winter grade: C. Getting Tejada for a package of middling prospects wasn’t a bad idea. Letting Adam Everett go so that he could play shortstop, rather than third base, was. Trading Brad Lidge for a true center fielder wasn’t a bad idea. Adding Darin Erstad after that was. It was that kind of offseason, a mix of decent primary moves and bad secondary ones. NRI to watch: Tommy Manzella can play shortstop nearly as well as the departed Everett did. It’s not likely that Cecil Cooper will keep him around to caddy for Tejada, but if you’re down in Kissimmee and get the chance to see him play, do so. Job battle to track: Is this the year that someone other than Brad Ausmus catches a majority of Astros games? J.R. Towles’ big cup of coffee in September created that hope. Keep in mind, though, that a year ago Towles was a 23-year-old who’d yet to make it out of A ball. He does have good defensive tools, ones that should help him stay in the lineup even if his bat slips back to the .270-with-doubles level. One move to make: Like the Reds, the Astros have a steep dropoff in the rotation, only theirs occurs between #1 and #2. Roy Oswalt is an ace on anyone ’s staff; Wandy Rodriguez is a #3/#4. Here, he’s starting the second game of the season. The Astros don’t have the kind of trade bait to acquire someone to fill that gap, nor does that pitcher exist in the market. Their move to make involves cloning. By edict from ownership, Astros’ GM Ed Wade played his hand this winter as if he had a contending team that just needed sprucing up, making a big move for a star, swapping out one closer and bringing in another, and signing a free agent to fill a hole. The problem is that even if those moves made the Astros five games better, that still only gets them to .500. Of the 11 roster spots spent on pitchers, only Oswalt, Valverde and maybe Rodriguez are more than filler. Two years ago, this roster might have worked in a weak division. Now, it’s just not good enough. --

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