Yes, pal I said that...pal. If the Astros do anything at all this year you'll be the first one on here saying, "I told ya the Astros were better than everybody said!!!" LONG LIVE HOMERS!
I don't think that is what this about. I love the Astros. I am a homer. As a homer, I want to see our team make progress and we haven't seen ANY progress in the last 3 seasons. This season looks to continue that trend. I do not think that this is the worst Astros team ever but I also do not see them making the playoffs. I'll tell you what. Watching them get to the World Series was amazing and it made you want more. I loved watching them get to the playoffs and make a run even if they didn't make it all the way. With this team, you know that there is little to zero chance to make the playoffs. You also know that we are not watching a team that is learning to win that might make it next year. There are zero pieces on this team that will make a playoff run except maybe Pence and he is probably our only bargaining chip other than Roy. That makes for ****ty baseball no matter how you slice it. If we have no chance of making a run and there is no potential to make a run with any of the players, it pisses you off as a fan. It pisses you off because all of the fun is lost. In my mind, and I have never been a Drayton basher before, search my posts if you do not believe me, the fault lies with Drayton. He was a great owner at one time. I think that time is long gone.
But nobody said that to you in this thread. In fact, the post you responded to didn't even attempt to paint the Astros as a good or even average team. The only one caricaturing anyone who disagrees with him, at least in this thread, is Smacktle. The Astros *do* suck. I hope that changes. I think Pence will end up as a marginally above-average player, but not great. Lee will get his 100 rbi's but he's lazy. Does that make me a "homer", too?
I'd like to take this time to point out that the Astros suck. And this will be their 44th year without winning a championship (not counting their inabilities from 1962 to 1964 as the Colt 45's).
It's probably been mentioned before but I wonder if the reason the team hasn't gone into a complete rebuilding process is because Drayton is afraid the fans will abandon him. MMP has done some pretty good business since it's opening and the team has, for the most part, been successful during that span; so you sign a top free agent or two to fill in some holes and keep the team competitive with an outside chance of making the playoffs. Problem is the team is neither good enough to win a championship, nor are they bad enough to completely drive the fans away. So we're stuck in mediocrity; maybe they make they playoffs, maybe the bottom falls out but most likely they fall somewhere in between. The weak farm system only compounds the matter. And Drayton is either too stubborn, too stupid or too blind to see it. I hate to say it, but maybe the best thing for this team is to continue to suck the way they have. Continue to be unwatchable....no post-All Star break comebacks, no incredible runs, no journeyman pitchers overachieving...just lose....lose bad...lose with complete and total apathy. Nothing else will drive fans away faster. Then perhaps the organization will finally realize that this team needs a completely new direction. Now I'm not rooting for that. I want them to win each and every game. But should they continue to play poorly, it won't be the worst thing in the world.
Those are mostly horrible points. I wasn't an optimist pointing out good points. I was an observer pointing out the flaws in your argument. You're calling Pence "average AT BEST".. but so far, he's done well. And that's with pitchers throwing that slider tailing away. Not unheard of for a young player to improve, so for you to dismiss him is ridiculous. (fyi, a certain to-be HOFer had issues with that slider tailing away from him..he seemed to figure out how to still do well. Not that Pence is him, but I'm just saying, it's not like that one thing will kill him completely) Who cares if Lee can't pass up a Taco stand? What the hell is your argument? Mine is that he can hit really well, run well enough to play baseball, and field below average...but hits well enough to justify it (though sure, I'd like to get rid of his contract if we were to rebuild completely) And I didn't say anything about Tejada. I said Pudge is on a contract that is on par with the production you would expect from a washed up star (especially given that the alternative was someone who would likely hit like Ausmus, without his rapport with the pitchers or anything). Somehow your argument against that is to ADD in Tejada and then say they make too much? ok, dude the contract for Pedroia sucks. I mean if you combine PEdroia and Daisuke, that's ridiculous!
Given the standard, you're probably right....because anything better than the worst season in MLB history would be "anything at all" here.
I think Drayton made a great hire but he's grown overconfident about his baseball knowledge as his team has been successful. Drayton likes the attention from the media which he surely doesn't get in the grocery business when his managers do a great job for him. I think he's a lot more likely now to be suggestive of moves and strategy. Gerry knew full well the team had to rebuild because of some poor drafting and just the nature of the budget we have to work with but Drayton wants to retool like the Yankees. Except they retool with CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira and we retool with over the hill guys and players coming off of injuries looking to relive past glories. Drayton is running this franchise into the ground right now with bad contracts and mismanagement and Gerry would be rebuilding it into a powerhouse that could win divisions for the next 10 years.
Yes, so far Pence is doing great! SO FAR! Another friggin HOMER rooting for Pence! I'm dismissing him after how much time?! How long do we wait for the magic dust to turn him into the superstar we all expected?! If Pence were standing in front of me right now, I'd hug the man. I wish half the Astros would play like him! That certain Hall of Famer? Biggio?! I love the man and worship the baseball ground he walks on and have one of his 3000 hit bats...Want one? Carlos Lee. So we can have a bunch of guys in the outfield wearing funny hats?! LEE IS NOT GOING AWAY. Contract is too big. Get used to him. Pudge was a last ditch effort for Drayton to save his credibility/ bang for his buck and to get all the homer/ Astros fans to continue to come to the games and buy really expensive dogs (MadMax) beers (Me) and nachos (nasty aren't they?) the same Tejada was supposed to accomplish last year. OH!!! Not to mention Matsushi?! Only a deranged, unrealistic homer could support this team. PARTY ON DUDE! The Astros suck. AND I will always love them!
ok, your last post really confused me.. and I feel like you're no longer arguing an overall point..but rather just quoting posts and spewing random things
