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That was a good 7-4 win for Roy Oswalt and the Astros tonight. As expected, Roy Oswalt finally improved his season record to over .500 ( 9-8 ) and he's now 21-1 in his career against the Reds.

I think we all knew Roy Oswalt would end up salvaging a decent win-loss record in 2008. I think he'll end the year with a more than respectable 14-10 record. Hopefully he can lower his ERA by a wider margin in the process, but I expect to see Roy Oswalt back in contention for the NL Cy Young award in 2009 next year.

I was discussing some big-name free agents with a Brewers fan in the AOL Baseball chatroom earlier today, and he believes there's a great possibility the Brewers will be unable to re-sign both Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia. This is only speculation on my part, but I believe the Houston Astros can become major players in an attempt to sign Ben Sheets as a free agent this winter.

I'm not sure how the rest of the 2009 starting rotation would shake out, but with Roy Oswalt and Ben Sheets as your one and two ( ACES when healthy )... That would be a formidable one-two punch at the top of the starting rotation next year.

I'm assuming Brian Moehler earned a spot as number 3 or 4 starter next year, along with Wandy Rodriguez and perhaps you can fill in the blank ( ------ ----- ) for whoever is our 5th starter in the rotation next season. I'd like to see somebody other than Brandon Backe step up and win the job. I still like Brandon Backe a great deal, but he's never developed into the type of elite starting pitcher I was hoping for. I guess a couple of home starts in the 2004 and 2005 postseason fooled me into thinking he was on the verge of becoming something sensational and spectacular.

I'm encouraged by a lot of good things the Astros have shown lately ( minus the two losses at Chicago ), and I think the 2009 Astros will contend for the National League Central. I strongly believe that because I feel the Astros will sign one big-name FA starting pitcher and at least one or two quality relievers. It's going to take quite a bit more financial commitment from Drayton McLane, but I believe the potential is there to accomplish some big things this winter.

I'm hoping to see Brian Moehler on the team in 2009.

Whatever role he has is fine with me...

I don't want to see Doug Brocail back on the team next season!

Please tell me Doug Brocail is a free agent this winter?

He's kind of old and I worry about his lack of stamina. It seems like Doug Brocail is only good when he has a lot of days off in between appearances. And while I admire his competitiveness ( constant shouting matches with himself on the mound in between pitches ), I just don't think he's going to add much to the team in the near future.

All the Astros need to do is add one more "top-of-the-rotation" starting pitcher, which Ben Sheets clearly is, and they also need to sign one or two good free agent relievers.

I'm also wondering what somebody like Felipe Paulino can add to the team when healthy. Doesn't he throw a good fastball with excellent velocity? Couldn't he eventually emerge into a setup man out of the bullpen? I have a hard time believing he's going to be a starting pitcher if he continues to have future injury setbacks.

The Astros need a three-headed monster out of the bullpen again... Like they used to have in the past with Wagner, Dotel, Lidge... And then Lidge, Wheeler and Qualls.

Right now, the Astros have Jose Valverde and Geoff Geary?

Perhaps Wesley Wright at times... I'm just not confident in anybody in the Astros bullpen to tell you the truth. It definitely needs work, but as ZachDevil once mentioned one time... The Astros bullpen looks so bad at times because they're overworked due to a poor starting rotation that is filled with "soft starters" who can't pitch deep into games.

We definitely need some inning-eaters in the starting rotation.

Which is why I wasn't against signing Livan Hernandez.