Houston.Astros.MLB.com

By Jim Molony / MLB.com

Seven-time All Star Craig Biggio will return for an 18th season with the Astros. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

"I'm really happy from a standpoint that this is the only organization I've ever known," Biggio said. "This is where I want to be, especially after the great year we had. This is a great city with great fans and it's great to know that you're wanted."

Biggio, a seven-time All-Star, has started a franchise-record 16 consecutive Opening Days. He hit .281 with a career-high 24 home runs and also contributed 47 doubles, 63 RBIs and seven leadoff home runs.

Biggio, who moved from second base to the outfield to make room for Kent in 2003, is the franchise leader in games (2,409), hits (2,639), runs (1,603), at-bats (9,221), singles (1,790), and doubles (564).

In August, he became the first Astro to reach the 2,600-hit plateau and he has played in more games than any active player who has spent his entire career with one team. Biggio hit .269 with two home runs and five RBIs during the Astros' postseason run.

"What can you say?" Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker said. "This guy's been a franchise player for a long time, meant an awful lot to this franchise and I think he's earned the right to come back. His performance in 2004 certainly indicates he can still contribute at a high level and we welcome him back."

Kent played the last two seasons in an Astros uniform, hitting .289 with 27 home runs and 107 RBIs in 2004. He hit his 27th homer of the season on Oct. 2 to become the all-time leader in home runs hit as a second baseman with 278. His 107 RBIs also tied the Major League record for most career 100-RBI seasons by a second baseman with seven.

"If Game 5 of the NLCS turns out to be my last Astros' home game, I feel fortunate to have finished on a high note in front of the Houston fans. Your cheers and support helped carry the team through the highs and lows of the season and the postseason. We could not have enjoyed the successes that we had at home if it had not been for your unwavering support. Thanks to all of you for the many kindnesses and courtesies that you extended to my family and to me. " — Jeff Kent

Kent was voted the starting second baseman for the 2004 All-Star Game at Minute Maid Park and set a club record with a 25-game hitting streak from May 14-June 11. Over 13 seasons in the Majors, he has batted .289 with 302 home runs and 1,207 RBIs.

"We notified his representative that we'd still like to keep the door open with him," Hunsicker said.

If Kent does not return, the possibility exists that Biggio could return to second base, one of four positions he has played for Houston. The Astros also have top prospect Chris Burke waiting in the wings.

"I think it's still up in the air," Biggio said. "I moved from second base to the outfield to help us get to the World Series, and we fell a run short. Whatever the organization wants me to do and play, that's what it's all about. Whatever it takes to get this team to the World Series."

Biggio moved from center field to left field in June after the Astros acquired Carlos Beltran in a trade with Kansas City. Biggio had been taking ground balls at second base in part because of the uncertainty over next year. Had the Astros not picked up his option and paid him a $1 million buyout the 38-year-old would have been a free agent attempting to latch on with a new team for the first time since he was drafted by Houston in 1987.

"From the one standpoint, I'm real excited to get this out of the way," Biggio said. "It is nice from the standpoint you know where you're going and where you're going to be next year. But to have such a great year and get so close, I also want to be here to try and help this team make it to the World Series next year."

Hunsicker plans to talk to Kent and his agent, Jeff Klein, in the near future regarding the possibility of a 2005 contract.

"My two years in Houston have been among the most enjoyable years of my career," Kent said in a prepared statement. "Our team's run during the second half of the season made me feel like a kid again and reminded me why I love playing this game so much. I am already thinking about Spring Training.

"I consider myself lucky to have played with such a great group of guys who refused to give up, even when others counted us out. Our team made great strides this year and we broke new ground for this franchise by winning our first postseason series. To get so close and then come up short leaves a bitter taste. As I said to my teammates after the tough loss in Game 7 of the NLCS, 'this team can win next year.' I was looking forward to being a part of that effort because there is some unfinished business, and I believe that, at full strength, we'd have won it all this year.

"We'll see where things go from here, but regardless of how it turns out, I am deeply grateful to Drayton [McLane], Gerry, and the Astros franchise for wanting me to spend the past two years in an Astros' uniform."

Kent's most memorable moment in Houston was a walkoff homer in Game 5 of the NLCS that gave the Astros a 3-2 lead in the series.

"If Game 5 of the NLCS turns out to be my last Astros' home game, I feel fortunate to have finished on a high note in front of the Houston fans," he said. "Your cheers and support helped carry the team through the highs and lows of the season and the postseason. We could not have enjoyed the successes that we had at home if it had not been for your unwavering support. Thanks to all of you for the many kindnesses and courtesies that you extended to my family and to me."

Jim Molony is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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