The Astros had an interesting season this year. During the offseason last year they traded away Brad Lidge, the closer to the Phillies. Then they traded for Jose Valverde, the closer on the Diamondbacks. They acquired Oscar Villarreal from the Braves. They pretty much built the team up with many trades and free agent signings without depleting the farm system totally. Then during the season, they traded for LaTroy Hawkins and Randy Wolf during the season when they were 14 games out. I thought with those trades it would put them at the top of the division but it didn't. Ed Wade is faced with a very hard offseason. he has to improve the team while not totally destroying the farm system. The Astros are buyers right now and i have a plan to get them to the playoffs.

Part 1 Free Agents

The Astros have some holes to fill on the roster. They need some more speed from the bench. They need some more power off the bench. And they need to improve the releif corp that they currently have. Here are some of the players that the Astros should sign.

Richie Sexson .221 12HR 36RBI 1SB

Scott Podsednik .253 1HR 15RBI 12SB

Alan Embree 2-5 4.96ERA 70G

Guillermo Mota 5-6 4.11ERA 58G

Kerry Wood 5-4 3.26ERA 65G 34Saves

Chad Cordero 0-0 2.08ERA 6G

I know you probably read this thinking I'm crazy saying that the Astros should sign some of these free agents. But, all of these players will have some effect on the Astros next season. The players all have a role on the team.

Richie Sexson has a power bat that could be useful off the bench when he doesn't talk to himself. He has a bat that can hit maybe 10 homers off the bench. He might sign a small contract becaus emany teams showed small interest in him once he was released by the Yankees. I suggest a 1 year 3 Million dollar contract.

Scott Podsednik has a lot of speed. He might be a high risk investment because the strength of his game depends on the health legs. He might be able to play centerfield coming off the bench in lmited situations.

Alan Embree and Guillermo Mota are veteran releivers. They both had ok seasons and considering their ages, they might want to finish their careers out of the bullpen not warming the bench. Alan Embree is a solid lefty and Guillermo Mota dominates hitters and many occasions. I could see maybe a 2 year contract for both of them valued around 8 million dollars.

Chad Cordero has been plagued by many injuries. He got released mid-season when he hurt his arm again. As you can see with my stats I have, he started off very well and then just got injured. He will be very cheap, maybe at the league minimum or maybe an 850k contract saying that no teams touched him when he became a free agent. He will be one of those players that is there just incase of an injury.

Kerry Wood is a dominate releiver. I don't think that the Astros should stress his arm so they should just keep him in the bullpen as a set-up man for Jose Valverde. He might be inclined to sign with the Astros because Texas is his home state. If he signs with the Astros, it will probably be a 3 year 26 million dollar contract or around that area.

There are probably some players that I did not mention. Please leave them as comments. With these players signed off the free agent market, the bullpen will have lots of depth to start a base around and will have a good bench when it comes in need.

Part 2 The Trades

The Astros have a very strong offense. I don't see them needing to trade for a bat or a glove because the free agent market is littered with hitters and speed. The only trades needed to be made are ones to the Starting rotation and bullpen. if the astros sign every player I mentioned in the bullpen, they will only need a 1-3 players that they need to trade for during the offseason. Here are some of the trades that should happen.

Paul Maholm-2 Prospects

J.J. Putz-2-4 Prospects

Paul Maholm will provide a starting pitcher to put into the 4 spot in the rotation and putz will put the bullpen over the edge. The Astros won't really need that many players traded for. Please leave a comment on other trades that you think should happen.

Part 3 Staying in the Race

There is no doubt that the NL Central will be one of the toughest, if not toughest division in baseball. There is always a chance that a player could get injured during the season. If someone on the starting roster does, the Astro's farm has enough depth to take care of the team to the playoffs. There might be one player here, one player there that the team needs. I just think worst case scenario, if the Astros follow a plan based like this, they might need 1-3 players by the trading deadline.