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STL's bullpen is a better than Houston's. They're 4 deep (Ishringhausen, Reyes, Eldred, Tavarez) + whoever they decide not to make their 4th starter while Houston's is just 3 deep. Solid edge for STL there. You're going to need more than 3 guys in the bullpen if Clemens, Oswalt and Pettitte can't go 7+ innings consistently, but they probably can. Still, I'd rather have STL's depth.

SS, I think Eckstein contributes much more. You don't give up .1 of OPS and expect them to equal. Eck's glove just isn't that bad.

And you missed catcher.

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Wheeler, Qualls, Lidge, Rodriguez??? You guys clearly don't have a huge advantage. Wandy was a true rookie this year and won us 10 ballgames.

What would lead you to believe Pettitte clemens and oswalt cant go 7 innings?

Eckstein is good with the glove but being 5'7", he doesn't have the range of the 6'0" Everett, and his arm is horrible. His throws are huge arcs.

Even if he gets to the ball, some of our speedy guys may beat out his lobs from shallow shortstop.