[EmpireWF]

The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice writes that his sources say the Houston Astros will go hard after free-agent OF Carlos Lee this off-season. In his blog , Justice says the Astros will look to finally find an offense in the form of the power hitting left fielder.

If the Astros do spend the money on Lee, would this entice Roger Clemens to return? And back to Lee, how many HRs do you think he could hit at Minute Maid?

[MVB]

The Astros need to rope either Lee or Soriano this offseason....

[MJHMarc]

I think Carlos Lee could easily smack 45-50 homers with the Astros next season.

Everyone wants Soriano, don't they?

[JackAigner]

I think there is a real possibility of getting Carlos Lee. I like the prospect of him playing in Houston with the short porch. Defensively, he's not good at all...somewhere just to the right of Greg Luzinski, but there's really not a lot of ground out there to cover...it's just a matter of learning the angles. Heck, Daryle Ward, another water buffalo, once patrolled left field at Union Station. All in all, it would be pretty exciting, I think. He'd be a better fit than Soriano. They have some cash to spend, too, since they're not paying Jeff Bagwell to sit on the beach this year. Rumor has it he's open to playing in Houston.

Getting him and nailing down some pitching...maybe importing another Molina to take over some of the Brad Mendoza catching responsibilities...Houston should be improved. Now if we could only get a third baseman...how old is Mike Schmidt now...old enough to be Julio Franco's firstborn?

[MJHMarc]

According to ESPNews, the Astros are negociating with Carlos Lee.