Toronto's lineup seems well balanced from top to bottom. I wish we had that type of talent. We have maybe three good hitters, average wise anyways, to start the season. But I'm glad we added more power. I think Chris Carter and Rick Ankiel were under-the-radar additions who should help the Astros score more runs with their power hitting. Carlos Pena also blasted another 420-foot shot yesterday

Yeah baby! We have the number one overall pick this June. Mark Appel sounds good to me.

I'd be surprised if we didn't draft Appel, a Houston native, and i think he chose to stay at college hoping we would draft him.

We're stacked in the minors at practically every position also. Our main weakness in the farm system right now is pretty much pitching.

The only problem I have with pitching is they are not as likely to reach their ceilings because injury it's always looming. However, it may be small and if there aren't any similar value hitting players in the draft it's not an issue. I'm excited to see the Stro's come up in the next few years.

I'm hoping a guy like Mark Appel is Major League ready. Since he finished out his college career at Stanford. I don't think he would spend much time in the minors. He could be in the big leagues out of spring training in 2014. I doubt he'll be called up this year, a month or two after being drafted. We could have the makings of a decent top three in the starting rotation with Jarred Cosart, Mark Appel and Lucas Harrell.

I'm hoping that Bud Norris can improve as well. Guys like Phillip Humber and Erik Bedard are nice veteran stop-gap options for us this season. We just have to play out 2013 and hope for the best. It's going to be some rough sledding in the tough AL West early on.

17 more days until the Astros open the season at home against the Rangers on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. March 31

Hopefully we can make our American League debut in style. With a win. LOL

Hultzen was mlb ready too, but he might not get called up til the mid point of the season so they can get the most out of arbitration. Don't get down if Appel has a not so great first year just because of the amount if work he would have done in that year. Similar to Danny.

Hopefully Felix welcomes you to real pitching with a perfect game.

This post was edited by suhduelerz on Mar 14 2013 10:18am

I'm watching the Astros and Pirates spring training game on CSN Houston right now. The Astros are wearing their rainbow jerseys with the orange caps and the Pirates have on their yellow jerseys with black stripes on the side. I didn't realize teams were supposed to look this stylish in the spring? Both teams are wearing jerseys that are World Series worthy. Kevin Chapman could be a viable left-handed option for us in the bullpen this year. He's the guy we acquired from the Royals last year. He's making a lot of strides, throws hard and has some nice stuff. His control issues are the only thing holding him back.

Chris Carter had two home runs and five RBIs Sunday, leading the Houston Astros over the Toronto Blue Jays 11-2. Our starting left fielder (converted 1st baseman) is looking impressive this spring. Did we get a steal from Oakland in that Jed Lowrie trade or what? He was supposed to be just the "throw in piece". We added a guy with some legitimate pop.

Oh.