Campbell: What if the Astros had kept Jeff Kent?

Uhh...He would have been performing death-defying no-look wheelies at the Texas Outlaw Fireworks Sprint Car Nationals?

Could Biggio have gotten to 3,000 hits — and almost certainly punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame — if Kent had stayed?

As uncomfortable as Biggio was in left field, it’s highly doubtful. I floated the scenario past some Astros insiders, who flat-out insist Biggio wouldn’t have possibly gotten to 3,000 if he couldn’t have taken refuge at second base.

In a strict baseball sense, the Astros clearly would have been better off if they’d have kept Kent. Maybe Kent, who has more home runs than any second baseman in major-league history, would have made the Astros more of a match for the White Sox in the World Series. Maybe Kent could made the difference in the 1 ½ games that separated the Astros from the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.

And maybe not.

What we do know is that the Astros reached their first World Series and Biggio got to 3,060 hits after Kent’s departure. Is that — and Biggio’s almost certain induction into the Hall of Fame — a happy enough ending for Astros fans? How many wish they could go back in a time machine and see what would have happened if the Astros had taken their chances on Kent?