Houston Astros: 5 Reasons There's Hope for 2012

There has been very little to cheer about for Astros fans in 2011. The team will almost certainly blow past their franchise record for losses in a season, and they are by far the worst team in the league.

Top players Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn were dealt at the trade deadline, and their replacements on the big league roster make the team look like a glorified Triple-A ball club.

These tough times won't go on forever, however. There is light at the end of the tunnel for the first time in several years. The team will hit rock bottom this season in terms of their record, but make no mistake, this team is looking up.

As hard as it might be to believe it, I've got five reasons there is hope for the 2012 season.

Change in Ownership

The team owner can't physically go out and play the games for the team, but he sets the tone for the franchise.

The Houston Astros have had a great deal of success with Drayton McLane Jr. as their owner. They were by far the best team in the NL Central in the late 90s, and they were in the World Series as recently as 2005, but it was McLane's ownership philosophy that got this team in a rut.

McLane, who knows very little about baseball, insisted on being involved in baseball decisions. His tinkering in baseball matters ran off Gerry Hunsicker, who was arguably the best general manager in the history of the team.

McLane was also famous for his aversion to rebuilding. In 2007, the Astros went 73-89. The core of the 2004 and 2005 teams that had so much success had moved on. It was clear that the Astros needed an infusion of young talent. Rather than green light a full rebuilding project, McLane insisted that new general manager Ed Wade stock the team with veterans to make them competitive immediately.

As a result, the Astros ended up being marginally better, but with a much higher payroll. They had officially reached the pinnacle of ineptitude. They were a bad, expensive team.

With new owner Jim Crane, there is hope that those things will change. Crane has already made a point to say that he will allow his baseball people to make all baseball-related decisions. He has also announced plans to drastically slash payroll before the 2012 season. That statement scares most fans, but the honest truth is that it's what the Astros need right now. Let the young talent develop and only go out and spend when you are really ready to contend.

Brad Mills

When things are going badly, it's really easy to pile on the manager. The fact of the matter is that, in the two seasons Mills has been the manager in Houston, there isn't a manager in the game that could have made this team a contender.

Coming off the disastrous Cecil Cooper era in Houston, Mills has been a breath of fresh air. Players rave about how honest and caring Mills is about each and every player. You always know where you stand with Mills and you can talk to him about any concern you have.

Mills has done all he can with this team, and I think he has done an admirable job. Even though it's obvious this team is going nowhere, Mills manages as if his team is in the pennant race. He takes his job very seriously and when the Astros, have the talent to compete, I think Mills will be the right guy for the job.

J.D. Martinez

Astros fans that are mourning the departure of Hunter Pence should latch on to J.D. Martinez immediately. Like Pence, he plays hard every time out, he seems like he is having fun and there is something charming about the unconventional way he goes about just about everything he does on the field.

More than anything else, the guy is good. At the start of the season, Martinez was little more than a fringe prospect. He was 23 years old, which is considered a little old to be at Double-A, and he hadn't shown much outside of reasonable potential to be a decent hitter for average.

Martinez quickly changed the minds of the people that matter in the Astros organization with his play. At Double-A Corpus Christi, Martinez was hitting .338 with 13 home runs and 72 runs batted in. For all the talk about his lack of power, he was slugging .546 down there. When Pence was traded to Philadelphia, Martinez was the obvious choice to be called up.

In Houston, he has continued his impressive display of power and run production. In just 66 at-bats, he has four homers and 15 runs batted in. He is only hitting .258, but given his history of hitting for average, I wouldn't be too concerned about that.

Jose Altuve

Jose Altuve, a diminutive 21-year-old second baseman from Venezuela, has already captured the hearts and minds of Astros fans with his quick, line drive swing and his Mighty Mouse stature.

Unlike J.D. Martinez, Altuve was considered a top prospect, but like Martinez, he wasn't expected to contribute at the big league level in 2011. The fact that he even saw playing time at Double-A was something of a surprise.

Altuve began the year at High-A Lancaster. When he hit .408 in 213 at-bats at that level, the Astros decided that he had proved all he could with them. When he was moved to Corpus Christi, most figured that would be his last stop this season. No one bothered to tell Altuve, though. Altuve continued his tear from the moment he arrived at Double-A, and he ended up hitting .361 with a .569 slugging percentage.

With the rebuilding process already under way, the Astros figured they might as well give him a shot to prove that he can hit at any level, and he has done just that. In Houston, Altuve has hit .314 in his 105 at-bats.

It's unlikely that Altuve ever develops into much more than a high average hitter, but if he can hit anywhere near as well as he has hit at all levels in 2011, he'll be a big part of the team for a good, long while.

Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Singleton

Collectively, these are the two biggest prospects the Astros got in the trade that sent Hunter Pence to Philadelphia. If things go as planned, this duo will be the building blocks of the Astros' next run through the postseason.

Jarred Cosart is the pitcher the Astros hope fills the void left by Roy Oswalt, who was traded to Philadelphia in 2010. Cosart is a power arm who profiles as a possible ace-type talent. His appearance in the most recent All-Star Futures Game had scouts and media buzzing about how live his arm is.

It's too early to heap praise like this on a youngster, but Jonathan Singleton has the potential to be the best power hitter in Houston since Jeff Bagwell. Admittedly, he isn't much of a defensive player and first base is where he will have to be parked, but that's not why he was wanted.

He is a classic middle-of-the-order power bat that the Astros have truly been lacking. For all their positives, Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee aren't power hitters like that.

Both are likely at least a full year from even being in the discussion for a call-up, but if they get hot like J.D. Martinez and Jose Altuve did this season, the Astros will be left with no choice but to see what they have.