Eh - McLane (along with everyone else) messed up with CSN and a lot of things towards the end of his tenure, but he didn't squander B&B's careers. The Astros were one of the most successful franchises in all of MLB over the course of a decade covering most of B&B's prime from 1996 to 2006. They made the playoffs a whole bunch, and had very real chances to win it all three times (1998, 2004, 2005). They surrounded B&B with outstanding hitters, outstanding pitchers, and outstanding relief pitching - the Astros were never lacking in talent for that whole period. That's a pretty damn good track record for a non NewYork/Boston team, probably only surpassed by Atlanta over that period. The fact they didn't win in the playoffs is on the players - but the ownership and GM put together outstanding teams.
If you had any doubts as to whether Drayton was still the same ol' carnival barker as always, this impressive attempt at revisionist history should lay them to rest: I like how this tries to downplay Drayton's role in the creation of CSN Houston. Houston Regional Sports Network, LP was created by the Rockets and Astros all the way back in May of 2003 for the purpose of creating a network to air their games. It is incredibly disingenuous to pretend that owning their own network wasn't a long-term dream of both McLane and Alexander. And things had been going so well...... 2011: 56-106, 5th in NL Central 2010: 76-86, 4th in NL Central 2009: 74-88, 5th in NL Central 2008: 86-75, 3rd in NL Central 2007: 73-89, 4th in NL Central 365-444 (.451) No one that spends any time evaluating prospects agrees with this. Keith Law had us in the bottom 4 every single year from '09-'12. Baseball America 2010: Astros 30/30. "Years of poor drafts, including a disaster that featured no signees before the fifth round in 2007, have crippled the system and leave it woefully thin." Baseball Prospectus 2010: Astros 30/30: "They have utterly no depth whatsoever. Recent drafts have changed the top of their prospect lists, but the players from six to 11 wouldn't even sniff most team's lists. When two middle relief prospects earn single-digit rankings, that's never a good sign." Baseball Prospectus 2011: Astros #28/30 "Old, bad, no help soon."
You are right...just checked Secretary of State records. It was formed in 2003. I didn't realize that.
Agree 100%. Between 1997 and 2005, they made the postseason six times and won more regular season games than every other team in baseball, save the Yankees, Braves, Giants, Red Sox and Cardinals. The list of players who wore an Astros' uniform over that stretch is mighty impressive: Moises Alou, Randy Johnson, Jeff Kent, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Carlos Beltran - in addition to a wealth of homegrown talent: Berkman, Lidge, Hidalgo, Oswalt... Not to mention, McClane kept Bagwell and Biggio here for their entire careers; there are no other players oftheir ilk in our city's history that played their entire careers with one team.
Heck, Even Larry Dierker & Jose Cruz who've seemingly always been with Houston finished their careers elsewhere (of course Cruz came from STL originally). Don Wilson & JR Richard would probably be the next 2 greatest to spend their whole career with the Astros, and they both had their careers tragically end. Similar could be said for Yao with the Rockets.
No. You're right in what you say, but with THAT amount of talent coming through, why did the Astros not hang up 3 or 4 World Series Banners? Because McLane wouldn't KEEP the players here. Just look at the list of players he allowed to walk because he was too cheap to pay for them. Plus the utter failure to care about the farm system at all doomed this franchise to a decade of terrible baseball. The success the Astros had was not because of McLane, it was in spite of him. I am not saying they didn't have above-average success - I am saying it could have and SHOULD have been much GREATER, and had we had an owner who was anywhere near 'good', the successes during those years would have been better, and we probably would be talking about those 'Championship Years' of the Astros, the same way we get to talk about the Rockets' Championship Years.
Because the players didn't perform when given many, many opportunities. The owner is not on the field. If your 100 win team decides not to hit a baseball in a 5 game series, there is nothing the owner can do about that. No team keeps all their expensive players forever - the Astros weren't "cheap" by any stretch of the imagination, and often had a payroll far above their marketsize. The farm system complaint is bizarre in the context of B&B's careers, since the farm system went downhill after that and had nothing do with wasting B&B's careers. It seems you started with an errant conclusion and now are just trying to figure out rationales to justify it.
So he gets no credit for bringing the players here; just blame for letting them walk? That's awfully convenient... As Major said, you can't hold McClane accountable for players not performing anywhere near expectations. He drove the team into a ditch; there's no doubt. But he was a very good owner for many years, active and aggressive; he built a very good team and kept stars here like Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman and Oswalt for their primes of their careers.
Which of those players really made the Astros regret letting them walk? Kile and Hampton get overpaid to go to Colorado, where they predictably fail (both years, team still wins the division in subsequent years) Randy Johnson never seriously considered staying in Houston (team still wins the division the following year) Carlos Beltran never seriously considered staying in Houston. (team goes to the WS the following year). Meanwhile, they hang on to Biggio, Bagwell, Wagner (till he talked his way out of here), Berkman, and Oswalt (all franchise cornerstone-type players). They also sign a bunch of other guys that end up having their last "good" years with Houston (Kent, Pettite, Clemens, Lee). All-in-all, Drayton's free agent record (whether its the ones he kept, the ones he let go, or the ones he signed from elsewhere) was pretty good... and that's also considering the Swindell/Drabek signings right after he bought the team.
Drayton was probably the best owner the city has ever had for a professional sports team, until the time he started looking into his personal future and thinking about getting out. The myth that he was not willing to spend is so off it is really quite funny. He spent plenty and the results were we had a legitimate contender for over a decade, it was great starting every year talking about our playoff/championship possibilities instead of betting $6,300 worth of furniture whether we would lose 100 games or not Where Drayton screwed us was when he knew he was going to sale, and i'm not just talking about that last year or two. Drayton isn't dumb, the fact that he stopped spending on the farm system isn't a coincidence. Let's not forget that the farm was not neglected for the first half or more of his tenure as owner. I think he got to the point where he said to himself "i'm probably only in this for 4-5 more years" and at that point, wasn't going to spend any more of his money on a farm system he would never see the benefits from. So Drayton, some of the best and some of the worst, but that was a heck of a decade of baseball around here
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A glimmer of upbeat news: CSN Houston wants to pay bonuses to keep employees on the job for now <a href="http://t.co/EUXpbtCt4y">http://t.co/EUXpbtCt4y</a></p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/status/515619013313843200">September 26, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I would think not long. The time to file a plan has expired. If this plan is not approved, the judge (I assume) could give a timetable for a new plan to be filed. But, honestly, if this plan is not approved, is there a better plan out there to be had? Doubtful. I would think liquidation would occur sooner rather than later.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>CSN Houston hearing still on for Monday, but possible delay looms <a href="http://t.co/bxhX09wYOI">http://t.co/bxhX09wYOI</a></p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/status/517413801793028097">October 1, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
So help me out, legal folk, if I am reading this wrong but it sounds like Comcast exercised some old bankruptcy statute that would, in effect, put a halt to the transfer of the network to AT&T/DirectTV even if the judge rules in favor of the re-organization plan (because of the lien thing). In reaction to this the Astros/Rockets revised the reorganization plan to somehow prevent this but now Comcat is saying they don't have enough time to review the new plan so they want a delay? It feels like Comcast is screwing with us just out of spite. If the judge rules in favor of the reorganization plan, just accept it. Also, holy geez, nearly half a BILLION dollars amongst the various creditors. This thing was sunk a long time ago. To think all this has dragged out (and cost MORE money in lawyers fees) like it has and we STILL might get delayed further...ugh, makes me sick. Also, if you owe $21 million dollars (that the Astros/Rockets would have to pay Comcast) but they exercise the ability to put the lien out there and get paid over time instead of all at once, shouldn't it be up to the payer and not the payee if that happens all at once? I mean, I have mortgages and auto loans, but it is up to me if I want to go pay off those loans down to zero. Shouldn't it be the same here?
