Astros, Rangers see players, GMs come and go

Today I am going to play one of those little "games" that have no real meaning except to get us all thinking baseball. If the season started tomorrow what would the Astro lineup and roster look like? Using the word "tomorrow" actually makes this an easy exercise. Because of the amount of time several young players got on the field in 2011 and the lack of much roster shuffling so far this offseason an Astro lineup could easily look like this: Carlos Lee would be at first base... Jose Altuve at second... Jed Lowrie at shortstop... Jimmy Paredes at third and Humberto Quintero behind the plate. The outfield would consist of J.D. Martinez in left, Jordan Schafer in center and a right field platoon of Brian Bogusevic and Jason Bourgeois. Key reserves would be Matt Downs, Angel Sanchez and J.B. Shuck. Jason Castro would be the other catcher presuming he is healthy. He could be the opening day catcher if healthy, but may not be. The pitching rotation would feature Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers, Bud Norris, J.A. Happ and Jordan Lyles. The bullpen would include David Carpenter, Wilton Lopez, Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodriguez and Wesley Wright plus two others. Sosa? Cruz? Abad? Abreu? Escalona? Weiland? See that wasn't hard even if I really didn't stick with just 25 candidates. However, it won't be so easy by the time spring training begins. There is a chance the club will do some more "addition by subtraction" if deals for Wandy Rodriguez andor Brett Myers can be configured. And, if so, some of those players listed above might become part. There is also always a chance other names like Brett Wallace or Chris Johnson can force their way back to the active roster by having strong springs while others struggle. Spring Training is now only two months away. Ed Wade Goes Home The former Astro GM has signed on to return to the Philadelphia Phillies family as a consultant and scout. Ed and his family never fully moved from the Philadelphia area during his time with the Astros so the opportunity to go back with the Phillies works well. The Astros will still be providing the bulk of his income the next two years since he had that much left on his Houston pact. It is fashionable to make wise cracks about why Ed made so many deals with the Phillies during his Houston years. The reality is that all GMs make a number of deals with teams they once worked for. Gerry Hunsicker made a number of them with the Mets -- his previous employer -- when he took over the Astros. It would not be surprising at all if Jeff Luhnow doesn't make some trades with the Cardinals -- especially since beginning in 2013 the Astros won't be in the same division (or even league) with St. Louis any longer. The reasons are simple. Hunsicker with the Mets, Wade with the Phillies and Luhnow with the Cards know more about those systems than any other. They feel they are dealing with more knowledge when discussing minor leaguers than with other teams. There is nothing sinister about it despite what wise-cracking would-be comedians' jabs in online discussion forums. How Come the Rangers are Rich All of a Sudden? Two years ago the Texas Rangers were bankrupt. They went on the auction block. The club was still paying part of Alex Rodriguez' contract. Their attendance had been dropping. Then a group headed by Chuck Greenberg was awarded the franchise after a "controlled" bidding process. Greenberg was not an uber rich man and didn't really have much of his own money invested. But he was the front man and tried to run the show. Others in the ownership group didn't like that and he was bought out. In the meantime the baseball people kept working to build a winner. They succeeded. The Rangers won back-to-back American League championships. While attendance rose, it still was unable to top three million. This offseason, if there was a high-dollar free agent on the market the Rangers' name was linked to him at one time or another. How did the Rangers get so rich all of a sudden? Most say it is the new (as much as 3 billion) television contract with Fox Sports Southwest that has allowed the team to spend. No doubt that is a factor, but the new contract doesn't even kick in with the large increase for at least another year or so. In short, the Rangers are willing to go all the way to justify the money Fox has committed to spend in advance. They also found out they like being a "team to beat" instead of just another club. While they did not sign Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder (at least not yet) and they did lose pitcher C.J. Wilson to the rival Angels, they still had another target. Enter Yu Darvish. The Rangers put in the highest bid just to try to sign the Japanese star pitcher. They are paying the Nippon Ham Fighters of Tokyo a reported 51.7 million just for the rights to negotiate with Darvish's agents. How much they will have to pay the pitcher himself is only a guess. Since Darvish is only 25 and possibly the greatest pitching prospect ever to come from Japan to MLB, the numbers could be staggering. Can the Rangers and Darvish's agents come to an arrangement and will he be worth it? Time will tell that, but the Iranian-Japanese hurler has been dominant in Japan. In 2011 he was 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA and 276 strikeouts. The 6-foot-5 righty has essentially proved all he needs to in Japan. If he has a good head on his shoulders and fully understands what he will be facing there is no reason he cannot be a big success in MLB. He will have all the top notch coaching he needs with Mike and Greg Maddux in the Ranger family that is led by Nolan Ryan. For the past 25 years, the Rangers have been noted for two things: hitting and heat. Pitching has never been the strongest suit for the Arlington boys. It has been good enough to win two straight AL titles. If the Darvish investment pays off it may be good enough to win the Big One.