As Expected

Today's loss should be enough to put this baseball season to rest for the Houston Astros, and get serious about football season.

Larry Dierker's an Astro for life and probably isn't feeling any extra satisfaction, but if I were in his shoes I think I would be. And I'm saying that as someone who thought it was probably time for a switch.

The Astros have some serious work to do in the offseason. The pitching staff could use a veteran starter who is not named Shane Reynolds or Dave Mlicki (but those are hard to come by, and there is talk that Reynolds will be back if they can't come up with anything). The outfield needs to be reconfigured after the depressing seasons of Ward and Hidalgo, and a speedy, leadoff-type centerfielder would be perfect, allowing Berkman to shift to one of the corner spots and some sort of three-headed monster (Merced/Hidalgo/Ward) to occupy the other spot in the outfield. And the left side of the infield isn't exactly a strength.

Anyway, on to David Carr and the Texans....

[Posted at 16:26 CST on 09/14/02] [Link]