FanHouse Humberto Quintero

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

After hanging in contention until early August, the Astros bottomed out with a 23-36 finish in the season's final two months. That culminated in Cecil Cooper's firing and Brad Mills' hiring. The squad Mills inherits is full of both veteran players and holes that will make it hard for him to returnthe team to where owner Drayton McLane thinks it belongs -- the top of the NL Central.

That's because the Astros are currently caught in Ed Wade Purgatory. He can do just enough to keep his veteran squad in pseudo-contention, but probably not quite enough to get them into a real playoff race. That won't stop him from trying, though.

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The Houston Astros were going to enter the season with two largely unproven catchers. J.R. Towles and Humberto Quintero were in the middle of an epic "let's see who is worse at hitting" battle in Spring Training. Seriously, this was a war of futiltiy if I've ever seen one. Quintero is hitting .182 with a dismal .546 OPS through 11 games. Towles, not to be out-sucked, sports a .133 average and .521 OPS.

Now, I'm not sure if the combined lack of offensive prowess behind the plate caused Astros' GM Ed Wade to sign Ivan Rodriguez, because the Astros have a recent history of clinging to their veterans and going all out for the current season anyway. Regardless, Pudge (Part II) is now in the fray. Is he worth owning in fantasy baseball this season?

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...
Team who refuses to rebuild. Seriously, Drayton McLane, just keep holding out hope you can win the World Series and making your general managers deal every prospect you ever stumble across for the likes of Miguel Tejada and an overrated closer. It just keeps setting the franchise back years at a time. For now, they are solving a broken leg with a band-aid by winning 86 games and treading water.

One of the forgotten rookies of the early season has been Astros' catcher J.R. Towles. He was one of the most heralded rookies this spring and he's off to a pretty decent start, overcoming a .207 batting average with a .395 OBP and 3 homers in 38 plate appearances. That's been mostly ignored because he plays for the Astros. And unfortunately for him, he also took a pitch right on his hand last weekend and it looks like he's going to miss some time.

... Towles was examined Monday team physician Dr. Tom Mehlhoff, who confirmed Sunday's diagnosis that no bones were broken.

"But he said there is a good chance he's going to be pretty sore and may be limited for the Philadelphia series," said manager Ed Wade today from Philadelphia, where the Astros open a three-game series against the Phillies on Tuesday.

The Astros say he's going to be OK, but their actions indicate otherwise, as they've called up Humberto Quinto from AAA in case Towles can't catch during the early-week series. It's good that his hand isn't broken, but any time he's missing is kind of a bummer for Astros' fans because if their start is any indication, watching a guy like Towles develop is going to be one of the high points of their season.