I guess my premise is that they could have likely been where they are today, but still could have also not been flat out dumpster fire-level bad those years (featuring ultra experimentation at the MLB level, and charging MLB prices for that)... unless you had a priority of getting the #1 pick. I can't name any players we have now, other than the #1's, that we wouldn't have had (or been able to have) without being terrible. Again, the minor league depth obtained in the draft was an absolute priority (and that comes with actually signing your draft picks, something the previous regimes didn't try all that hard to do)... did it have to be a priority at the expense of the MLB team and killing the brand at the local level? I don't know the answer to that.... but I liked the strategy better when the #1 pick was potentially the ultimate reward (that is until they, and you, decide to say it wasn't about that). And, baseball is deader than dead right now in Houston... lowest rated market of all top 50 media markets for the world series.... I wouldn't say trying to be relevant is completely pointless.
I understand your point of view; I just don't see it nearly as bleakly. As far as baseball being deader than dead in Houston (other than the fact that we're all still here), fans are fickle. Winning will bring them back, and in droves. Baseball, for most, is just an entertainment choice in the end. These things are cyclical. If (when?) the Astros win, there will be good times and huge crowds at the Juice.
Its all hindsight bleakness, if that's such a thing, as the worst is behind them... the question I will always have is if they "had" to be as bad as they were to get where they are now (and that's fully acknowledging that I didn't want them to hold on to any high priced talent that existed during the Pupurra/Wade era). And I know winning will bring most fans back... I just feel that people underestimate how low baseball is right now here because the only people still here following them were the ones that were always going to follow them (some like following the minor league and draft stuff more than the MLB team). Yes, it is cyclical... but this is the lowest the cycle has EVER been. This city made huge strides as a baseball town from 98-2007ish.... and I feel we have to basically start all over again.
Agreed... but things ebb and flow when the team is in relative infancy as they were in the 70's, prior to any real success... by the 90's, they were a fully grown product, with a full generation having now grown up on Astros baseball (and that came to fruition as this town reached its peak, baseball-wise, with the 98-2005 run... real success, new stadium, franchise all-time greats.) Right around now is when the second generation would be starting to take over the ticket-buying process...
The problem is that baseball is just way to boring when the team your rooting for sucks... Baseball is my favorite sport but i only watched about 25 games last year, because the 'stros are just hard to watch. Meanwhile I watched the Texans lose 14 in a row and had no problems watching the games. With the influx of young talent and the games being shown to all of Houston finally the support will start growing again.
to each his own, I guess. I followed my Texans all year last year by checking the box scores and reading articles (and fussing and arguing here at Clutchfans). But I found them too hard to watch. By week five I was already looking for competent teams to tune in to. I didn't waste my viewing hours on that pathetic display that wore our Battle Red and Steel Blue last year.
Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB): Rule 5 rumblings that @Dbacks might take @Astros C Robert Pena w/top pick. VG defensive C w/questionable bat.
I can't imagine a guy who hit .249/.306/.414 at Lancaster makes it all year in the bigs. It's supposed to be shades of Adrian Nieto, a HiA catcher who got drafted by the White Sox in the Rule V draft last year and stuck all year, but Nieto hit .285/.373/.449 in the Carolina league. The Carolina league is much more neutral than the hitter-friendly California league.
Teams generally don't worry about a backup catcher being able to hit. Consider that Humberto Quintero has played in 12 major league seasons.
I still think there's a significant difference between being a marginal HiA hitter and bad MLB hitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Delino DeShields Jr. taken by the Texas Rangers in the Rule 5 draft.</p>— Mr. Crawfish (@CrawfishBoxes) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrawfishBoxes/status/543088846171148290">December 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I'm not concerned about losing DDJr. Rangers probably thought they were somehow getting the Astros back for something when I don't really think he was in the Astros plans at all. Where was he going to play? Now he's the rangers' problem.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Cubs take OF Ariel Ovando from Hou in minor league phase of Rule 5 draft..lose 2 from AA roster, Rock Shoulders and Luis Flores</p>— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNChiCubs/status/543092960498552832">December 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
