Richard Justice with a provocative column:

Goodbye, Jose Valverde. You, too, Ty Wigginton. Pick up your lovely parting gifts at the door.

The Astros seem likely to trade both of them in the next few weeks. You won’t like the reason. Don’t shoot the messenger.

The Astros finished last season with a payroll of around $100 million after the acquisitions of Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins. To keep that team together for 2009 would cost about $120 million.

That’s the number the Astros have come up with after factoring in the raises Valverde, Wigginton and Wandy Rodriguez probably will get in arbitration. Valverde and Wigginton will be free agents after the 2009 season.

Plus, Carlos Lee’s salary jumps from $12 million to $18.5 million in each of the final four years of that six-year, $100-million deal.

At a time when almost every professional sports franchise is nervous about how the economic crisis will affect season-ticket sales, sponsorships, etc., Drayton McLane is hoping Tal Smith and Ed Wade can keep the payroll in the $100 million range, according to industry sources.

Later he says:

Now about winning in 2009. The Astros still believe they’ll be competitive.

Wade sees a rotation of Roy Oswalt, Brian Moehler, Rodriguez and Wolf as good enough to keep the Astros within range of a playoff spot. What the Astros really need is a young starter to make an impact.