The only beef I had with the article was the part where they said Drayton was willing to spend money. He was willing, but spent it on the wrong people at the wrong time. In 1997 where was his money at retaining Darryl Kile? I think we win the World Series if we still have that guy in 1998. He also was the reason guys like Mike Hampton (for Richard Cedeno), Carl Everett (for Adam Everett), and Billy Wagner (for Brandon Duckworth, Taylor Buchholz, and Ezekiel Astacio) were shown the door well before their careers were over. When he did spend, they were often questionable moves or downright mistakes. I mean he wasn't GM but you could tell he would give his GM's mandates. I did like the Jeff Kent, Pettitte, and Clemens signings at the time. And in retrospect I think it was right not to spend what it would have taken to keep Beltran. But Carlos Lee and the past five years of desperately clinging to mediocrity? Downright disgraceful.
Uncle D wasn't a very good owner but Drayton was. We remember CLee and Tejada but forget Doug Drabek, Greg Swindell, Jose Lima, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. Also he made a very good offer to Randy Johnson, 3-36 I believe, and Carlos Beltran was offered 100 million. I hated the Wagner deal and wasn't thrilled with the Hampton deal but you can't win every trade and he got top prospects in both deals. The Everett deal was a win for the Stros...Carl was a loose cannon and we got the best defensive SS in the game. Edit - Also note on the Hampton deal, Mike told the Stros he wouldn't sign an extension which prompted the aggressive move. Hate the trade but not the reason behind it.
LOL at rehash. grantland has a couple of very good articles a week. Only problem is that they publish a lot of articles a week.
The Astros were cheapskates not to resign Nolan. what does he do? Goes to the Rangers and throws 2 more no hitters.
We also got Dotel in the Hampton deal... some could say his years in Houston were much more valuable (at his salary) and productive compared to what Hampy was doing for Colorado. I can't believe Colorado made the mistake of signing Kile, and then doubled it by signing Hampton???!? Talk about a lot of wasted cash.
oh yeah, i hear about the astros sucking on espn everyday actually what's old is the houston sports fan shoulder chip
Holy smokes if you think Houston fans have a chip on their shoulder, don't visit any other cities or markets! Houston has to have the most laissez-faire fan-base and media market in the country.
Josh, I'm certain he's referring to the general attitude towards the media itself: the whole "we-don't-get-no-respect" Daingerfield complex.
yes, that's what i'm referring to. i was generally on board with that attitude before this whole information age thing. bagwell and olajuwon probably were under appreciated because they played in houston. now if you play in the smallest of small media markets and are exceptional you will be acclaimed
Yeah seriously. I've never seen so many people depending ownership here ever. These guys are billionaires and you get average joes willing to stake up a fight for their reputation and integrity. I'm not by any means as bad as a fan from Chicago, Boston or (worst of all) Philly when it comes to what I expect from a team. Les Alexander I am fine with; you can tell he gives his GM's a good amount of autonomy and does his due diligence in picking them. Bob McNair is a little worse; he gives his guys TOO much of a leash. But Drayton McLane...almost twenty years of me following this guy play Rube Waddell with the media while using the Astros as his personal little ant farm...if he were anywhere else people would have burned his effigy by now. His meddling has led to terrible moves. His hires have been so steeped in Texas Good Ol' Boy nepotism it's nauseating. He is a BAD owner by any measure and you've got fans ready to take up pitchforks to defend him.
Spacemoth, do you want to actually discuss Drayton McLane's tenure reasonably, or do you want to just call names at people who point out the good things and accuse them of "taking up pitchforks to defend him." I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're open to logical conversation (not trying to change one another's opinion, just arriving at understanding, or at least enjoying the discussion). McLane, since ca. 2005, has been every bit as bad as you describe. It's been a real bummer. But about before then... His meddling has led to terrible moves. Like getting Randy Johnson. Like getting Carl Everett. Like getting talent for Hampton instead of just letting him walk. Like getting Beltran. Or Kent. Or Pettitte. Obviously there were some bad moves in there, but all-in-all 1992-2005 was fun as an Astros fan (except the postseason meltdowns, of course). His hires have been so steeped in Texas Good Ol' Boy nepotism it's nauseating. Hunsicker's from Texas? And for bonus points: which owner hired MLB's first ever African-American GM? He is a BAD owner by any measure What about wins and losses? 1190-1012: the Astros' record from 1992-2005 What about postseason appearances? six between 1997 and 2006. What about player development? the first foreign baseball academy--a game-changing innovation in player development. also, widely regarded as the best organization top-to-bottom in MLB from about 1999 through 2001. It's like a tale of two owners. Very, very good (with a few faults of course) through 2005 or so, and just terrible since.
The cancer that ultimately destroyed the Astros (mortgaging the farm system, questionable trades) began well before 2005. And so did the beginning of bad decision making. The rest of your points I basically agree with.
I hear you, Jim, but those first decisions were at least for players that actually made a difference.
The drafts were mediocre which hurt the farm system but they did produce talent like Chris Burke, Chad Qualls, Hunter Pence, Ben Zobrist and Troy Patton. What bad decisions before 2005 happened that destroyed the Stros? Hated the Wagner trade because I thought it was more personal then economical. Wags would have helped the playoff runs but certainly didn't hurt the runs. Besides that, losing Carlos Hernandez and Wade Miller to injury were probably the biggest blows and those weren't his fault. Payroll was at an all-time high and MMP was rocking so money was for the most part a non-factor at the MLB level. Was he perfect no way, Hunsicker had to yell and scream often to get moves made, which he ultimately got tired of. I think the biggest issues happened after the 2005 season with payroll distribution, the Venezuelan academy shutting down and drafting going from mediocre to a disgrace.
Oh, I quite agree that things were far worse after 2005. But here is the thing. You can look at those guys who helped us in 2004 and 2005 and say they were good trades (Beltran, Kent, Pettitte, ect). Yet, it was those very trades that set into motion the idea of winning now (then) without any consideration or vision to the future. As pointed out previously, in the 90's, we were among the winning-est ballclubs in the NL. We were solid top to bottom. We were always in the top 3 in our division and knocking on the division door frequently. But basically, Drayton got impatient, he probably noticed his years adding up, and decided he wanted to win right then, regardless of the consequences. He made it a personal goal in the light of making something of it before his tenure as owner was over. All this to satisfy his own need to be a winner, instead what was best for the ballclub in the longer term. This didnt begin in 2005, it ended in 2005. He spent his wad and got what he got. To his credit, those were some exciting times, but it was sorta the equivalent of running a marathon shot up on speed knowing that you would perform better for that race, but ignoring that your body would be a wreck and incapable of competing ever again at a high level for a good long time afterwards. The track he put us on was unsustainable, and anyone looking at the WAY he was getting more out of the club should have known this. He sacrificed long term stability and competitiveness for a short stretch of greater success. Perhaps those division titles and that single WS appearance made it worth it to some to have what we have now (a basement team).
Well remember Kent, Clemens and Andy were not trades but actually FAgent signings. I can only speak for myself but 2004 and 2005 were the best years in franchise history, not sure how that can be argued. 2006 was frustrating as heck but those last 10 days were as intense and emotional as anyone could imagine. Did he get impatient, probably for the reasons you gave but the Stros window was closing as Baggy and Biggio were running out of gas. Drayton saw an opportunity to win and make money. While the 90s and 2001 were great, the Stros won 2 playoff games during that stretch, sounds like you wanted to stay on that course? Drayton got the itch and when he should have rebuilt, 2007, he couldn't do it. When this happened, all the issues that had been swept under the rug came to light. I just don't know how you could blame him for going for a title being so close.
