Keep in mind - the NL Central (assuming we stay) has never traditionally been a powerhouse division. Three of the past 6 winners did so with sub-90 wins, and two other times, the Central champ posted the fewest wins in the NL. Only the Cubs in '07 (97 wins) were truly dominant. So.... it's not like they have to build a 100-win team. That's why I was always OK with Drayton trying to squeeze every last drop out of Berkman/Oswalt. Finding enough pieces to put around those 2 + guys like Lee, Pence, Wandy and winning 85-ish games and taking your chances in the postseason is easier than blowing it up and scouting/drafting/developing and building around the *next* Berkman, Oswalt, et al. Of course, we're now seeing the flipside to that, which is really bad if you never hit that 85-ish wins and get to take your chances in the postseason...
It's not pointing to the 100-losses to say "Hey! The Astros are bad!"...it's pointing out just how incredibly awfully they are. I've been all vinegar regarding this team for several years, more than most, but around every bend, I saw them heading this exact direction. They put together an unbelievable pitching rotation, nabbed Beltran.....and then the post-Hunsicker era took full nose dive. I couldn't be happier that Drayton is finally gone. Despite all he did, he was slowly killing this team (starting when he declined to pay for the one reliable OBP guy the team was screaming for the World Series year). I'll stop now, because I know there's plenty of folks that disagree. Now this is what we're left with. Just a pathetic embarrassment of a franchise that has to look up at the likes of the Royals, Orioles, and Pirates. There was a time that would have been unthinkable. They could actually match the 2004 Diamondbacks. And as mentioned, the biggest killer here is they won't be able to climb out of this cesspool for several years. All that said - with Drayton gone, I'm willing to support the franchise again. All I want to see is honest, smart moves to get back to respectability. I'm not that hard to please as a hometown fan...just don't piss all over me and hike ticket prices while you're doing it.
We also had a young Biggio, a young Caminiti, Pete Harnisch, Daryl Kile, Luis Gonzalez... Good times. Damn good times. I still remember a "Young Guns of the West" promotional poster that featured three young Astros, I believe Biggio one of the them, the middle guy sporting a huge glove. Excellent. I've looked many times online for a pic of that, to no avail.
@emjohn: You're right that Drayton deserves full blame for where the Astros have fallen to (but you'd better then give him full credit for where they had risen to previously). That said, for what OBP machine did he "fail to pay" after 2005?
We also had a young Biggio, a young Caminiti, Pete Harnisch, Daryl Kile, Luis Gonzalez... Good times. Damn good times. I still remember a "Young Guns of the West" promotional poster that featured three young Astros, I believe Biggio one of the them, the middle guy sporting a huge glove. Excellent. I've looked many times online for a pic of that, to no avail.
No specific transaction that he killed. Just the GLARING need for a guy to move the bases after dropping Kent in the futile Beltran bidding. Clemens lost a Cy Young with all of those 1-0, 2-1 losses....hindsight wasn't needed, it was an obvious issue all year. No activity or apparent attempt to be a buyer at the deadline...and we lose the World Series badly as Chicago's rotation shuts our weak offense down (and Clemens rips his back apart). Got to have guys that can grind in the postseason.* You know how disgruntled I am about this topic, and I can buy that I'm hypercritical about it. Maybe there was no one to be had, or they did their damnedest to no avail. But IIRC, there was a blurb from Drayton when asked about it that they had spent enough (They were near $120M? Clearly not cheap.) and weren't increasing the budget. I never got over (my perception that) Drayton drew a spending line with a team that incredibly close to a title, armed with what may likely be the greatest pitching rotation that the Astros will ever see. And yes, I give him credit. He, not Hunsicker, was the guy that roped in Clemens and Pettite. He bent over backwards to keep Oswalt here (the tractor was awesome). I recognize that. But without Hunsicker to counter/compliment it, his baseball philosophy was a cancer that ate this franchise to the husk it is now. I'm very hopeful and optimistic that Crane will help get us back the right way. *yes, games 2 and 3 were high scoring. Gm1: Hou BA 0.219, Chi 0.312 Gm2: Hou BA 0.257, Chi 0.353 Gm3: Hou BA 0.170, Chi 0.264 Gm4: Hou BA 0.172, Chi 0.235 Astros were terrible trying to get guys on base, with Biggio, Taveras, and Berkman the only reliable hitters.
All for the best, if you're going to miss the playoffs then you might as well get the #1 pick. NOTHING is worse then being the best of the worst ala the Rockets. An outfield of Ovando, Springer, and the Williams kid from Ball in Galveston could be awesome.
And really, Biggio and Taveras just got lucky. Coming into the playoffs, you could only reasonably expect Berkman, Ensberg and maybe Ausmus to get on base at an above average clip based on the regular season. Those were our only 3 hitters with OBPs above league average. Sure, the postseason is a small sample size and anything can happen but you want to have at least another player or two that know how to work counts and get on base at an above average rate. That series was entirely winnable with a couple of small offensive upgrades.
Dunn would have been a nice addition, obviously - but I'm not sure we had the horses to grab him. (Same, obviously, for Rameriz, Soriano and Griffey.) Sweeney was having a good year but, like Sean Casey (who also would have been a definite upgrade) - where do you play him? Wasn't Berkman anchored at 1B because of his knee? As for those actually dealt.... eh. Slim pickings.
Awww man what great young talent Thats the difference between then and now. You had a lot of hope with them and you felt they could win at least half the time if you went to catch a game at the Dome. You really could see a real future The team today has no shot on any night of the week, at home or away and just makes you wanna barf
Man those were good times. I still remember an All-Star game in which Cami, Biggio & Bags were in the game together, and I think I remember them completely a double play.
I think us being the worst team since 2004 is pretty significant. What's worse is I bet any Astros fan could've seen this coming three years ago, with all of Wade's stupid signings and trades (Matsui, trading Willy Taveras, Woody Williams, Lee, Tejada, etc). I know I did.
How did Tejada hurt us? And Wade didn't trade WillyT (Not sure how that hurt us either) nor did he sign Williams or Lee. Arguably, the only part of the Jason Jenning deal that hurt was losing Taylor Buchholz, who has turned into an excellent relief pitcher, but he can't stay healthy/happy.
lol trading Willy Taveras. barely played last year, isn't playing this year, and had a .300 OBP the 2 years before that. Don't include things like that when trying ot make an argument..
worst team since 2004? Man, I missed how we sucked in 2005-2007. Was I asleep under a rock somewhere?
I think he means we are on pace for the worst season record for any team since 2004, not that we have actually been the worst since 2004.
