31 year old Morgan Ensberg had an off year in 2006 for the Astros. He played in 127 games and hit .235 with 23 homers, 58 RBIs and a .858 OPS. The Astros were very disappointed in Ensberg after he had a breakout season in 2005 (.283, 36 HR, 101 RBI). Ensberg made 12 errors in 117 games at third base but he showed above average range. Look for Ensberg to bounce back this season, but he won’t play quite as well as he did in 2005.

31 year old lefty swinging Mike Lamb had the best season of his career. He played in 126 games and hit .307 with 70 runs scored, 12 homers, 45 RBIs and a .836 OPS. The really impressive thing for Lamb last season was how much he improved as a defensive player. Lamb made 6 errors at 3B in 36 games, but he showed outstanding range at third. Look for Lamb to have another solid season swinging the bat.

35 year old Mark Loretta and 29 year old Eric Bruntlett both could see some action at the hot corner for the Astros.

30 year old Adam Everett gives the Astros fantastic defense at shortstop and a below average bat. Everett only made 7 errors last season in 149 games at short last season and he exhibited great range. Everett, however, is not much of a hitter. Everett played in 150 games last season and he hit .239 with 6 homers, 59 RBIs, stole 9 bases and had a .642 OPS. Everett will probably hit in the .250 range this season but he will be an asset because he will be in the hunt all season for the Gold Glove at short.

29 year old Eric Bruntlett will again be Everett’s back up for the Astros this season. He played in 73 games last season and hit .277 with a .695 OPS for the Astros. He played in 21 games at shortstop and made 4 errors, but he showed outstanding range. Look for Bruntlett to be a decent back up again for the Astros as he can also play third, second and the outfield.

31 year old Cody Ransom will probably start the season in AAA and wait for an opportunity in the majors. Ransom played in 122 AAA games last season and he hit .247 with 21 homers, 62 RBIs and a .824 OPS. Ransom last played in the majors in 2004 for the San Francisco Giants. He has played in 114 games in the majors and has an average of .238 with a .660 OPS.

41 year old Craig Biggio is the starting 2B going into the season, but the Astros brought in Mark Loretta in case Biggio’s poor second half is the beginning of the end of his starting days. It’s also possible that Chris Burke might not be able to handle CF. If that’s the case, the Astros would shift Biggio back out to center and start Loretta at 2B. Biggio has 2,930 hits in his career, so this is the year he can rubber stamp his entry into the Hall of Fame. Last season, Biggio only hit .246 with 21 homers and 62 RBIs. The Astros should also think of batting him lower in the order as he only had a .306 OBP and that’s not good enough to bat at the top of the line up. He probably has another good first half left, but he’s starting to look his age and is starting to wear down. He only made 6 errors last season, but he didn’t show much range at all.

35 year old Mark Loretta has been brought in as a utility man, but he could very well end up a starter at some point in the season. Loretta hit .285 with a .706 OPS last season so he still has his hitting skills. He’s a career .299 over 12 major league seasons and will provide the Astros with a potent stick off the bench. He also is a decent defender at 2B as he only made 4 errors last season and he has more range than Biggio.

Switch hitting 31 year old Lance Berkman had an awesome year last season. Look for him to have another great year as he will be able to focus on playing more at first base. He played 111 games and first and 44 games in the outfield, but the emergence of Luke Scott and the signing of Carlos Lee will likely have him playing mostly at first base. Berkman hit .315 last season with a 1.041 OPS, 45 homers, 95 runs scored and 136 RBIs. Look for him to even be better this season now that Carlos Lee will likely be batting behind him. Berkman also will improve his defense now that he can focus on playing first base. It isn’t like he played badly at first as he only made 6 errors their last season.

31 year old lefty swinging Mike Lamb played a lot of first base last season, but his playing time will probably be down some despite having the best year of his career last season. Lamb hit .307 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs in 381 at bats last season. Despite having an .836 OPS, Lamb will probably get a lot more playing time at third than he will at first this season. He’s a slightly below average defensive first baseman as he made 5 errors in 68 games there.

37 year old Brad Ausmas will again be the starting catcher for the Houston Astros. He’s definately a defense-first catcher as he’s not been much of a hitter the last few years. Last season Ausmus only hit .230 with 2 homers and 39 RBIs. It was a very weak .230 as his OPS was only .593 and his OBP (.308) was higher than his SLG (.285) which shows you weak that average was. Don’t expect him to hit much better this season as Ausmus doesn’t have much tread left on his tires. He was awesome handling the pitching staff as he only had 2 errors and 1 passed ball in 1124.2 innings behind the plate. His arm is starting to lose a little off his fastball as he only threw out 17% of the runners that tried to steal on him.

29 year old lefty swinging Eric Munson will try to win the back up job in Spring Training. He served as Brad Ausmus’ back up last season and he had some hitting problems. Munson hit only .199 with an OPS of .617 last season for the Astros. He’s kind of an all-or-nothing type hitter and he hit 5 homers and whiffed 32 times in only 141 at bats last season. Munson only made 1 error, but he had 4 passed balls in his return to catching full time. He threw out 21% of the runners that tried to steal on him last season.

27 year old Humberto Quintero will try to win the back up job in Spring Training for the Astros. He hit a solid .298 with a .777 OPS in AAA for the Astros. He then came up and went 7 for 21 (.333) for the Astros. Quintero has a gun for an arm as he threw out 3 of the 5 attempted base stealers for the Astros. I think he has a good shot to beat Munson out for the back up for the Astros.

24 year old Hector Gimenez will also compete for the back up job to Brad Ausmus. He his .273 with a .720 OPS in AAA for the Astros. He doesn’t have much experience in the majors as he’s only batter 2 times in his career (0 hits). He will likely start in AAA, but he could see some time for the Astros this season.

The Astros have signed lefty Kelly Wunsch and righty Ben Weber. The odd thing about it is that the Astros didn’t invite either of the pitchers to Spring Training. Both of them will report to minor league camp and have to work their way back to the major leagues. Wunsch didn’t pitch in the majors last season, but he has been a decent relief pitcher over his career. Wunsch has a career record of 11-6 with 1 save and a 3.76 ERA with a 1.316 WHIP. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Wunsch made his way to Houston at some point in the season. Ben Weber didn’t pitch in the majors last season and his last good year was 2003 for the Angels. He has a career record of 19-8 with 7 saves. His career ERA is 3.77 and he had a WHIP of 1.444. I have my doubts that he’ll ever pitch for the Astros.

The Astros made some major moves in the pitching staff but didn’t do too much with position players as they felt they were already good there. Infielder Mark Loretta was the only major acquisition for the Astros. He will be there super-sub as he will play all over the diamond. He hit a solid .285 for the Red Sox last season and will really help the Astros. Richard Hidalgo was brought in to battle Jason Lane for a reserve outfield spot. Cody Ransom was brought in to battle for a reserve infield spot.

The Astros made a big trade with the Rockies and acquired 28 year old right handed starter Jason Jennings. Jennings was 9-13 with a 3.78 ERA and 1.37 WHIP last season for the Rockies. He has good stuff and will pitch well now that he’s out of Coors Field. Woody Williams was signed as a free-agent by the Astros and he had a good season for the Padres last year as he was 12-5 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Those numbers should rise a little bit as he’s moving to a hitter’s park instead of Petco Park. Miguel Ascenzio and Brian Moehler will duke it out for the #5 starter job with a couple of young pitchers. The Astros have signed lefty Scott Sauerbeck and righty Rick White to help out in the bullpen. The Astros will also give Rule 5 pick Lincoln Holdzkom a shot to make the roster as a relief pitcher.