24-year old righty swinging J.R. Towles is taking over for Brad Ausmus behind the plate this season. He was excellent for the Astros last season in his brief major league debut. He played in 14 games for the Astros last season and he was 15 for 40 (.375 avg, 1.007 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer and 12 RBIs. That followed 100 games in A, AA and AAA ball in which he was 100 for 349 (.287 avg) with 66 runs scored, 11 homers and 62 RBIs. Towles threw out 3 of the 6 runners (50%) that tried to steal against him in the majors and Astros pitchers had a 4.26 ERA when throwing to him.

39-year old righty swinging Brad Ausmus returns as the likey backup at catcher this season. He had an off year with the bat in 2007 for the 2nd season in a row which is the reason he lost his starting job. He played in 117 games last season and he was 82 for 349 (.235 avg, .642 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 3 homers and 25 RBIs. Ausmus didn’t throw the ball well last season either as he only threw out 16% of the runners trying to steal against him. Pitchers had a 4.29 ERA throwing to him last season which proves he’s still adept at calling a game.

28-year old righty swinging Humberto Quintero will likely start the season at AAA and be an insurance policy for the Astros. He played in 29 games last season for the Astros and he was 12 for 53 (.226 avg, .545 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. He did throw the ball well last season as he nailed 5 of 13 (38.5%) base runners trying to steal on him in the majors. Astros pitchers had a 5.10 ERA when he caught.

28-year old righty swinging J.R. House will likely share the AAA job with Quintero this season. He played in 19 games for the Orioles last season and he was 8 for 38 (.211 avg, .768 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 3 homers and 3 RBIs. House threw out 1 of 4 (25%) runners that tried to steal on him but Orioles pitchers had a 7.83 with House behind the plate.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C

The Astros have signed 30-year old righty Shawn Chacon to a 1-year, $2 million dollar contract. Chacon will likely battle for a job in the rotation despite being a relief pitcher most of last season. He pitched in 64 games (4 starts) last season for the Pirates and he was 5-4 with 1 save, a 3.94 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Chacon has now pitched in 254 games (119 starts) in his major league career and he is 43-58 with 36 saves, a 4.98 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. This was a solid move for the Astros as the price was right for Chacon.

One thing you can’t call the Astros is cheap after this off-season. The Astros made a big splash in trading for shortstop Miguel Tejada a day before the Mitchell Report came out with him being one of the headliners. It’s lucky for the Astros that the fences aren’t very deep because Tejada won’t likely be getting any steroids or HGH help this season. The Astros signed switch hitting Kaz Matsui as a free agent to be Tejada’s double play partner. He should inject some speed at the top of the order. It will be interesting to see how well center fielder Michael Bourn plays now that he will get the chance to start in the majors. He was the player with the biggest upside the Astros got in return for Brad Lidge. He’s a speed burner but you can’t steal first base. The Astros also loaded up on veteran outfielders to fight for bench jobs. Darin Erstad, Jose Cruz, Victor Diaz, David Newhan and Reggie Abercrombie will battle it out this spring.

The Astros completely blew up the bullpen in the off-season and it will be interesting to see how it goes. Closer Jose Valverde should make everyone forget Brad Lidge as he has outstanding stuff and a bulldog attitude. In front of him will be Oscar Villarreal, Geoff Geary, Doug Brocail and Chad Paronto but they aren’t the most durable bunch.

OFF SEASON GRADE FOR THE FRONT OFFICE: C+