I guess all the years of rooting for the Astros have made me skeptical. The injury to Hernandez is upsetting, of course, but their pitching could still be strong. I'm not crazy about the situation at 3B, and as much as I like Biggio, I think he's probably going to be average in CF, and he's not likely to hit as much as your typical CF. Kent should help considerably. With him, Bags & Berkman hitting in sequence, they should put up some pretty good offensive numbers. Hidalgo is crucial. If he can rebound even partially, that will give them another big bat. I like Lugo at short. He made huge strides last year defensively, and he has a quick bat. Ausmus is solid. The pitching is potentially very good, especially with Oswalt and Miller at the top of the rotation. I wish they could find a better use for Dotel. He has such good stuff, I kind of hate to see him used strictly as a set-up guy for Wags. It should be interesting. Ken