Hey look, Justice wrote another "Drayton sucks" article

The Astros did try to resign Kent for something near but below the $9MM option - maybe $7MM?

I guess the question there would be if the Astros really wanted Kent, would it have been worth $2MM to not have to negotiate?

 

They tried to re-sign him for 7 million, with an option year that would be picked up based on some easily reached incentives (I believe it was # of plate appearences).

In the end, Kent got a better overall deal from LA... and I think its a very good situation for him to be close to his home. From the Astros standpoint, sure Kent's bat would have helped... but the team still would have had to get younger eventually, and hopefully they'll put the extra cash after Clemens' contract is up to some good use.

 

I didn't say they did not try to resign him; only that it wasn't for more than the option. I believe they were originally trying to get it done for 6-7 million.

 

Only in this BBS would you have people argue that signing a 3rd round pick for $900k vs top 10 prospect next year for millions is a bad move.

Forget Justice. If he does go in the Top 5 or 10, even Top 20, means some professional scouts have assessed his talents worthy of that pick.

MLB scout proves Drayton wrong.
Bobrek, MadMax, RM95 defends the move.

Absurd.

Brown nosers unite.

 

Honestly, I have no idea what that means.

 

did you even read the article???

i'm not defending anything. i'm attacking constant attacks from a "journalist" who has zero integrity from article to article.

 

Brown noser? You mean I get a promotion or some under-the-table benefit if I agree with the organization?

 

The ONLY thing I have responded to in this thread was the fact that the Astros did NOT attempt to sign Kent for more than his option. Where did I defend anything regarding the (non)signing of Stubbs?

Please point out where I defended the move.

Poor reading comprehension posters unite.

 

I'm sober now...and I still don't know what that means.

 

Why isn't he livid about the commissioner's office telling Drayton how to run his business? If that phone call doesn't come - Stubbs is signed.

 

He may be wrong about other stuff (I don't know, I usually avoid the Chronicle anyway) but how can you argue about this? OF COURSE they botched the Stubbs situation. Stubbs is going to be a star in Milwakee or whereever in a couple of years instead of us - and for what? $450,000? They pretty much wasted a 3rd round pick in a decent draft - if Drayton didn't want to pay LESS THAN A MILLION for first round talent, they why did the Astros pick him anyway?

So yes - Drayton caved in to unauthorized pressure from the League Office and micromanaged on an issue which should not have been a big deal. He's made up for it with Patton and hopefully again with Josh Lindblom (our 4th rounder).

 

You're attacking the journalist rather than responding to the points in the article itself.

The article states that the Astros could've signed a player in the 3rd round for far less than what he's projected to go next year.

Unless he is lying about the scouts, the article makes a good point that McLane botched up a great draft prospect because he was too myopic and/or cheap.

What's so hard to understand about that?

Just because Justice is anti-McLane does not invalidate the point he was making which is Stubbs couldve been an Astro at far below market value.

 

For me, it's twofold - first, it glosses over the pressure from the Commissioner's office. The article mentions that McClane was willing to pay over the slot for other players, so what was different about Stubbs? Was it something his scouts said, or was it the pressure from the Commissioner of Baseball that did it, or was it the amount he had to go over?

Secondly - Justice has no credibility with me. It's not hard for me to believe that he might twist - or ignore facts to support his tired "McClane's Cheap!" rants.

 

Well I really don't care for either person, McLane or Justice.

My only beef with McLane is that he incessantly whines about having lost well over $100 million dollars since owning the team. Now what businessman would continue holding onto a team that was causing him or her to lose such a large amount of money? Perhaps early on he lost money, but since the opening of MMP there is no way he could've lost all that money, he would have sold the team off years ago.

As for Justice, it all started when he first hired on at the Chronicle. He wrote a nice little "fluff" piece about Drayton McLane and why the fans should love and embrace him. it was complete crap and it was Justice's way of getting on Drayton's good side. Last season, when everyone was saying the Astros were dead in the water and the season was a loss, Justice was carrying the white flag ready to throw it in before the end of June and when they started that great streak of 36-10, he was the first one ready to kiss the Astros' collective @sses. Then he was adamant on trading Jeff Kent because he was a clubhouse cancer and didn't deserve to have Bags and Bidge as teammates. But this past offseason when Kent signed with the Dodgers he publicly chastised Drayton for not resigning Kent. The facts are simple, Justice is a bandwagoner. I have no clue on how he is nationally respected and his opinion taken seriously when he writes drivel like the article posted above. This is not the first of these kinds of articles, and it certainly is not the last.

 

because it's not the whole story. there was pressure behind the scenes from the league office, apparently. they were prepared to make an offer...they were told they couldn't/shouldn't by the league office. of course justice then uses that to say mclane is cheap and/or myopic, as you did.

have you ever watched Stubbs play?

you simply can not take a justice article at face value. you can't. his opinions change with the wind...and his credibility is for crap.

 

To Justice's credit he didn't even have to mention the pressure from Bud Selig.

 

i don't understand. to his credit, he didn't just flat out lie in writing a story?

i guess that's where journalism is these day. "well, he's not a TOTAL liar, so you have to give him credit for that!"

 

I've heard McLane say he lost money, but incessantly whining about it? Overstate much?

 

He didn't have to mention it either way, that it isn't lying.