Ok, let's face it. Brian Moehler has been all that and a bag of chips. (to quote late 90's proverbs. :p ) No one that it was going to happen except me. And to tell you the truth, I kinda just guessed. I said he should be the fifth starter from day one of this season and no one agreed with me. I didn't say that so much because I thought he'd be good, but more like... I thought he would be least bad. :p So the way it turns out, he's been our second best starter of the year. Not that it was hard to do.

So why back someone who hasn't had great results until this year? My favortism towards Moehler started back at the beginning of the '07 season when I read an article about him trying to make the team as a reliever. He was in spring training and it talked about how he told his wife in the next few days he'd either be heading north (back to Georgia or wherever he lives) or he'd be headed west, to Houston. That gave him.. a little bit of a personal feel to me. So I've been rooting for him ever since. That, and he had the best spring training results this year, even though they weren't that good.

As a starter this year he's done this:
ERA: 3.98
Games Started: 15 (Record 6-4)
Oppenent On Base: .315
Walks per 9 Innings: 2.41

They aren't the greatest numbers in the league, but they are damn good for a fifth starter. But the question is this: He makes half a million bucks this year, which is near league minimum. How much money do you think the Astros should offer him next year assuming they keep Backe?

If they pick up one starter in the off season?
If they pick up two?