I'm not going to claim that the Astros have an amazing outfield. While it's not spectacular, it's pretty respectable. Taveras .291/.324/.341 Pierre .276/.326/.354 Statistically, Pierre and Taveras were pretty much equal at the plate last year. Pierre's had better years so he could improve. Taveras as a rookie got his feet wet so he could improve as well. He needs to get on base at a better clip. Seeing as though he skipped AAA and in his 409 ABs in AA his OBP was .402, I expect he'll make some improvements. He's a very good centerfielder with a great arm. Wilson .261/.329/.443 Jones .249/.319/.438 Again, not a huge difference statistically last year. Wilson's knees are a concern but if he can stay healthy. He and Jones should be equals at the plate. I'm not going to do a statistical comparison of Murton and Lane. Murton's stats over 140 ABs as a rookie don't translate to a full season. I haven't seen the guy play but seeming as though he spent all of 2004 in A ball hitting 13 HRs in 460 ABs, I'm a little skeptical that he can hit anywhere near what he did last year for the Cubs. Anyway, my point is not that my player is better than your player. My point is that for Cubs' fans to be dogging on the Astros OF is, how do you say...Pot meet Kettle. As far as the bullpen goes, Qualls and Wheeler are EXCELLENT relievers. The Astros have so much faith in Qualls that Lidge almost was traded to Baltimore. Rumor has it if the Astros can get a quality bat, he's the bait. The rest of the bullpen is nothing special: Two decent lefties in Miller and Gallo and a veteran righy in Springer. The Astros bullpen should be excellent again. Other than a couple of monumental homers given up by Lidge, the Astros pen was fantastic in the playoffs. My biggest concern is that one of the young starters needs to step it up, especially if Roger doesn't come back. I'm also not convinced that Ensberg can keep up his allstar production. In short, the bullpen is really solid, the outfield is respectable, the offense is mediocre and the bottom of the rotation could pretty bad. Nice post, until the Astros and Cardinals begin to show signs of weakness, they are the teams that concern me, not the Brewers!