Miguel Tejada

It appears as though the Houston Astros will be losing their two-year closer, as well as likely parting ways with a key shortstop they hoped to convert to a third baseman.

With Jose Valverde declining the Astros' arbitration late Monday, Houston general manager Ed Wade also all but ruled out Miguel Tejada’s return.

Houston then turned their focus to LaTroy Hawkins in a hope to at least salvage some of the talent from last year’s success.

I must admit: When it snowed last week in Houston, I thought something had happened.

You know, hell had frozen over because the Houston Astros of the Drayton McLane Era were finally on the road to making great baseball decisions and building a team that will be taking champagne showers in a few years.

Gone would be the heartaches of 1980, of Bob Knepper running out of gas in Game Six of the 1986 NLCS, and of Houston's flat performance in the 2005 World Series.

False alarm, apparently.

It should come as no surprise that the Houston Astros are in the hunt for pitchers this offseason.

We're right in the thick of Major League Baseball's free agency period. Already John Grabow has stolen a heavy contract from the Cubs, Billy Wagner will join his third National League East team in Atlanta, and Placido Polanco rejoins the Phillies after a stint in Detroit, Cleveland, and Tampa, as well as the White Sox and Royals have already swapped some contracts Now comes the fun part.

“Miguel Tejada signs with the Minnesota Twins.”

Reading that headline wouldn’t elicit the excitement it would have five years ago, but it’s still an intriguing proposition.

Five years ago, Tejada was one of baseball’s best players and had recently signed a massive six-year, $72 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles.

It’s going to be a busy offseason for the Houston Astros franchise.

With reorganization and revamping on the hearts and minds of team owners and managers, the true tasks lie ahead.

Free agency, of course, is just a part of that process, as a handful of Houston Astros players have now officially filed.

Those names include: Jose Valverde, Miguel Tejada, LaTroy Hawkins, Jason Michaels, and Darin Erstad (Doug Brocail has also filed for free agency with the Astros declining his 2010 option and both Mike Hampton and Aaron Boone recently filed for arbitration).

Tough loss for Houston. They battled but just couldn't mount an attack against the duo of Billingsley and Broxton.

Wandy Rodriguez pitched another great game and is one of three pitchers in the majors with four quality starts. The offense couldn't string any hits together.

Hitting line:
Matsui 0-3, Sac bunt
Tejada 2-4, 2B
Berkman 0-4, GIDP, K
Lee 0-4, 2 K
Blum 0-3, BB, K
Erstad 1-4, K
Rodriguez 0-2, BB, GIDP
Bourn 1-2, BB, SB
Wandy Sac Bunt
Michaels 0-0 HBP
Pence 0-1, (lined out on a hard hit ball to short)

The 2009 Houston Astros have the rest of the league just where they want them.

At 4-8 and in last place in the six-team NL Central, the Astros are well-prepared for their most epic second-half surge yet.

Armed with a stellar pitching rotation including future-Hall-of-Famers Brian Moehler and Russ Ortiz, Houston finally has the parts necessary to win the franchise's first-ever World Series championship.

Some people would say the Astros have the league's oldest roster.

I say the Astros have the league's most-experienced roster. 

I was at class today so I didn’t get to watch/score the game so here is the wrap from Astros.com:

Bourn 1-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 R
Tejada 2-4, BB, R
Berkman 1-4, BB, K, 3 RBI, R, 3-run HR
Lee 1-4, RBI
Pence 1-4, BB, RBI, HR, K
Blum 1-5
Rodriguez 1-4, BB, K
Keppinger 1-2, R, BB, 3B
Ortiz 1-2, RBI

Pitching lines:
Ortiz 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Wright .1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER (got the W)
Sampson 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 ER
Byrdak 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 0 ER
LeHawk 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, (save)