"Ultimate Astros has never been busier. Ah, yes, the trade deadline. Fans, media and even those guys over at ESPN have opinions on the Astros, their general manager and those players other teams seem to be drooling over.

But while you're kicking around Ed Wade and all those pundits, think about this: Which player, if traded, would the Astros miss the most? Which player would leave the biggest shoes to fill? Which player would be the most difficult to replace?

There isn't a Jeff Bagwell or Roy Oswalt or Craig Biggio on the roster, meaning virtually every player can be replaced. Yes, one of the younger players — Bud Norris, Brett Wallace, Jason Castro— could develop into a megastar, but they aren't on the trade block right now either.

Perhaps today more than ever before, the Astros may be in a position to be overwhelmed. The stock on players like Hunter Pence, Wandy Rodriguez and Michael Bourn actually may never be higher. With so many teams desparately searching for that single missing piece, some general manager may be willing to overpay.

So which player, if traded away this weekend, would the Astros "feel" the most?

To me, there are three candidates: Rodriguez, Pence and Bourn, so let's take a look:

Wandy Rodriguez. He's 68-70, 4.13 in his career, but from 2009-2011, he's 31-30, 3.38 in 82 starts, with 8.2 K/9 and 0.9 HR/9.

The 32-year-old lone survivor of the 2005 World Series team has never been fully appreciated. Yes, the enigmatic, often misunderstood, sometimes inconsistent lefty regularly frustrates fans with a lights-out start followed by a throw-fuel-on-the-fire outing. Still, he's pitched effectively overall the past few years on (ahem) less-than-stellar teams that might cause even many of us to roll our eyes or talk into our gloves. Perhaps through this year, with Wandy earning $7 million, the Astros have more pros than cons on their pitcher. Starting next year, however, when Rodriguez will earn $10 million, the balance begins to tip.

One other factor on Wandy: For years, Astros' coaches, managers and executives have touted Wandy as the next coming of Lefty Grove or Steve Carlton. Expectations are everything and that's one thing that separates Houston management from other teams' general mangers. For the Astros, he's a No. 1 or No. 2, depending on who you talk to. For a contending team like the Yankees, Phillies or even Atlanta, he would be at the other end of the rotation.

Big shoes to fill? Not necessarily."