HOUSTON -- Cecil Cooper's first order of business on Tuesday was to call a team meeting and address his players, as the newest manager of the Houston Astros. Club owner Drayton McLane and interim general manager Tal Smith also spoke.

Cooper's message was simple: He wants to see improvements in every area -- hitting, pitching and defense -- but he also wants the Astros to walk with a bit of a swagger, so to speak.

"We have been a little nice, and maybe too nice," Cooper said. "It's good to have friends on the other side and be buddy-buddy, but at some point, you have to compete against those guys. The time you do it is at 7 o'clock. We need to have a better effort with that once the game starts."

Cooper wants to see the team "play the right way."

"We need more excitement, more fire," Cooper said. "This is not a criticism on anyone, but we've been very flat. We need to pick it up.

"You look at the team in general. Things aren't clicking. We're not hitting, we're not fielding well, we don't pitch well. In the last week or so, it's been like that. It's tough for the fans to look at, and as a coach, it's tough to take."

When Smith addressed the team, he reminded the players that there's still time to climb back to respectability in the standings.

"We told them, we have 31 games left, we have a chance to make a difference," Smith said. "This is not the time to throw in the towel. It gives you some reasons to play hard."

Meetings: Smith, Cooper, assistant general managers Ricky Bennett and David Gottfried, pitching coach Dave Wallace and director of pitching development Dewey Robinson will meet on Wednesday to discuss a number of items on their agenda, including September callups and candidates who could fill the coaching job vacated when Cooper moved from the bench coach role.

For at least a few games, first-base coach Jose Cruz will join Cooper in the dugout as his bench coach, with bullpen coach Mark Bailey assuming the first-base coaching job. Bullpen assistant Strech Suba replaced Bailey.

The Astros will look to promote a coach from the system as soon as the Minor League seasons are complete. Triple-A Round Rock and Double-A Corpus will be finished on Sept. 4.

At that time, several players could be called up as well. Brandon Backe and Chris Sampson will be activated from the disabled list, and Smith indicated Jason Lane will also rejoin the team, after he was promised he'd be back when Phil Garner and Tim Purpura sent him to Round Rock last week.

More players will also likely be called up, but Smith preferred not to reveal names.

On Purpura: When the Astros dismissed Purpura, they did not offer to retain him in a different capacity in the organization.

"That's very difficult," Smith said. "It just doesn't work very well. I don't think you can take a manager and make him a coach on the same ballclub. I don't think you can take a general manager and ask him to accept a subordinate role."

Status quo: One of Cooper's first orders of business on Tuesday was to meet with Chris Burke, to inform the part-time second baseman that he will play regularly in right field when the Astros face a left-hander, as well as play second base to spell Craig Biggio from time to time at home and more on the road.

"Hopefully, I'll get to play here a decent amount in the next month," Burke said. "It's nice to at least know what he has planned, that he has thought out something concrete."

But in terms of second base, it looks as if Burke is going to play less on the road in the final month of the season. The Astros are headed to some of Biggio's favorite ballparks, where he can expect to receive more playing time.

Wrigley Field in Chicago, Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Shea Stadium in New York are dear to the soon-to-be-retired second baseman, so instead of starting one game as he has in most road cities, he'll likely play two games in each of those series.

"It's going to be his call for the most part," Cooper said. "We'll look at some [pitching] matchups, but it won't be hard-cut matchups."

Arizona Fall League: Rosters for the 2007 Arizona Fall League were announced on Tuesday, revealing that eight Houston prospects will play for the Mesa Solar Sox when play begins on Oct. 9.

The list includes right-handed pitchers Jimmy Barthmaier, Brad James and Chad Reineke, left-hander Josh Muecke, catcher J.R. Towles, shortstop Tommy Manzella and outfielders Mitch Einertson and Josh Flores. Double-A Corpus Christi manager Dave Clark will serve as the club's skipper.

Players from the Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs and Red Sox comprise Mesa's roster.

Coming up: The Astros and Cardinals will play the second game of the current three-game set Wednesday at Minute Maid Park, beginning at 7:05 p.m. CT. Right-hander Roy Oswalt (13-6, 3.33) will celebrate his 30th birthday by taking the hill for the Astros, who will face Houston native Kip Wells (6-14, 5.41).