Suddenly, Astros reeling after fast start

HOUSTON All of a sudden, the Houston Astros look nothing like the defending National League champions.Houston opened 19-and-9 -- the best 28-game start in franchise history.
Now the Astros have dropped ten of 13, capped by a three-game dusting by San Francisco in which they were outscored 34-to-5 at Minute Maid Park.
Manager Phil Garner says his players didn't pitch it, they didn't hit it, they didn't catch it -- and that about sums it up.
The Astros were swept in a three-game series at home for the first time since April of 2004.
Pitching great Roger Clemens is still mulling whether he'll return for a 23rd season.
The Associated Press reports the Astros, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers are in the running to sign Clemens.
Meanwhile, the Astros and the Rangers tomorrow kick off their weekend series in Houston.

Ex-catcher Alan Ashby out as Houston Astros broadcaster

Longtime Houston Astros catcher Alan Ashby won't be returning to the Astros' broadcast booth next season.Ashby spent eleven of his 17-season playing career behind the plate for the Astros. He's spent the past eight seasons as the Astros number two radio voice with Hall-of-Famer Milo Hamilton.
With the 78-year-old Hamilton planning to broadcast only home games next season, the 54-year-old Ashby was one of eight finalists for sharing the lead broadcaster's duties.
Instead, the Astros have hired 35-year-old Tucson Sidewinders voice Brett Dolan and 34-year-old Dave Raymond, who broadcast for the Brockton Rox in Massachusetts.
Astros owner Drayton McLane says the team decided to move in a new direction with its broadcasts after determining that Ashby won't be the new lead broadcaster.
While in an Astros uniform, Ashby caught no-hitters pitched by Ken Forsch, Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott

Quintero has wrist surgery

Houston Astros catcher Humberto Quintero had surgery Wednesday on his left wrist to remove a fractured hook of the hamate bone.
The procedure was performed by team physician Dr. Tom Mehlhoff, and the 26-year-old Quintero is expected to recover in time for spring training.
Quintero hurt his wrist while playing for Aguilas of the Venezuelan Winter League. He appeared in 18 games for the Astros last season, hitting .185 with one home run and eight RBIs.

Like Clemens, Astros' future uncertain

Isn't it just like Roger Clemens to make news when he's not even on a roster?
Sure, Houston Astros fans will keep tabs on trade rumors and free agent rumblings and hope that a much-talked-about blockbuster deal will indeed come to fruition. But no topic will be more visited and revisted than the status of one Rocket Man, whose options for 2006 are wide open.
The day that the Astros did not offer Clemens arbitration, neither general manager Tim Purpura nor Clemens' agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks, had much to say about the notion of Clemens signing after May 1. But no one flatly decried it as an impossible scenario, either.
Rules state that any free agent not offered arbitration by his club cannot re-sign with that team until after May 1. In Clemens' case, that may be just what the doctor ordered.
If the two sides were to begin negotiations on May 1, surely they could come to an agreement that would allow Clemens to start for the Astros in early June. That would give Clemens five months on the mound, including the playoffs.
In 2005, Clemens was basically unhittable for five months before breaking down a bit in September and October. So wouldn't pitching an abbreviated season bode well for the right-hander, who turns 44 in August?
In the meantime, while Astros fans salivate over a Rocket return that coincides with the last day of school, other clubs will attempt to lure Clemens for Opening Day. The Yankees and Red Sox have already contacted the Hendricks bros, as well as several other clubs.