Once apathy sets in around a team it flows through the fans and it will be hard to grab interest back. Even with young talent. Let's hope Jim Crane can be patient with the City because it will disown the franchise. If you think MMP is empty just wait for next season.
Counting down the days till the 2013 draft. It's been tough trying to watch this team the past couple of weeks. Hopefully they can have a OKC Thunder like turnaround in a few years with all of the young talent coming in.
I agree with how tough it is to watch, and I really haven't watched but a handful of games from start to finish this year (life, work, first year of marriage, lulz), but I am a 'Stro fan for life. It sucks, especially right now on my eyes.
Earlier in the season when they were within just a few games of .500, I had more fun watching them then the last 2 years combined. What happened? Did everyone on the team (except Altuve) hit a wall at the same time? Injuries and trades have played some role, but not enough to account for falling from .480 ball to .200 Then, it looked like we had 5-6 keepers. Now I am seeing 2 or 3. All those folks over on the Rockets board saying "Let the youth grow" need to look at whats happening here to see what potentially they may have in store for them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Using B-R payroll info, Wandy Rodriguez is making $10m this year. Everyone else, combined, is now making $11.165m.</p>— Astros County (@AstrosCounty) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosCounty/status/226789224618287105" data-datetime="2012-07-21T21:22:19+00:00">July 21, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> I know it isn't common in baseball, but I wonder if Crane/Luhnow would take on salary dumps from other teams if we got a C/C+ level prospect in return. E.g. $8m player plus 2 C-level pitchers for cash considerations.
Altuve certainly hit a wall, too. OPS of .738 in May, .741 in June and .523 (on a .203 average) in July. I know he's ridiculously likable and casual fans would lose their minds if he got dealt (much like Hunter Pence), but it's far from a given that he's an above-average second baseman in coming years.
Winning cures everything. The best way to sustained long-term "fan interest" is to take the quickest route possible to becoming a contender. That's what the Astros are doing. Whether they have 20K fans, 15K fans or 10K fans in the meantime doesn't have any real significance.
I suppose what I meant there is Altuve's wall isnt as high or been around as long as some other players. Its easy to look at his .280+ ave and still consider he is doing well. But you are right, his July has been ugly. There is absolutely no one on this team that is a lock to succeed in the long run or be around in 3-4 years.
My worry is when the young talent starts to mature on the Astros they will still be losing (entirely possible) and possibly lose then in Free Agency because Crane won't make money with a stale fan base. We saw the Pirates go through this for years. Let's hope Crane isn't that kind of owner.
I'd be surprised. If there's enough young talent to worry about losing, they're probably going to be a competitive team. The issue with the Pirates is a true bare bones payroll limit and market. It won't ever be that bad, here.
Agreed. Yeah, I'm just pointing out Altuve's flaws because it seems like he gets a free pass at times. The casual fans are so desperate for someone to cling to (post-Pence), and after Jose's ridiculous April, he suddenly became that guy. And honestly, if some team is high on Altuve and makes a prospect-rich offer in the next year or two... it could make sense to deal him. Especially considering we have a decent bit of prospect depth in the middle infield. I'm already dreading the "shut down the franchise!!!" reaction if that happens.
Is it me, or does it seem to anyone else that when Lyles pitches, he does nicely through 4 innings and then has a 5th or 6th inning meltdown?
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=br&url=%2Fplayers%2Fsplit.cgi%3Fid%3Dlylesjo01%26year%3D2012%26t%3Dp&div=div_times"></script> His secondary pitches are way too inconsistent.
Weird, the table shows completely different data when embedded. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=lylesjo01&year=2012&t=p#times Long story short, OPS against 1st PA against Lyles: .655; 2nd PA .846; 3rd PA 1.003
It seems that way to me as well, but as Buck alluded to, I don't think that is all that uncommon. With younger pitchers that haven't completely developed their repertoire and learned how to pitch a full game, they tend to be prone to a big inning when the lineup comes around for a second or third time. Some never really grow out of that. I always felt that way with Brandon Backe. I've also always felt that a big inning in a game is more often how the game develops. Without doing any real research on it, it feels like you see a pitcher putting up zeroes until he gives up three or four in a big inning in the middle innings more often than you see a guy allow one run in three separate innings over the course of a six or seven inning outing. Not sure if there is a shred of truth in that, but it feels that way to me.
This has really sucked. I try to be optimistic, but it hard to watch a team getting shelled so frequently.
