Man, well. All hopes I had of us having some kind of MIRACLE comeback.....is dead. COMPLETELY. bring on football!
I personally think the Astros threw in the towel when they opted to send Jennings to surgery. Obviously, we are looking toward next season. It's not that we don't want to win. We just can't win with any consistency. We might as well see what the rookie talent can do. I agree about ending the season. Let's get it over with already and pray next season isn't just as bad or worse.
I see what you're saying, but honestly you're throwing in the towel if you keep running Jennings out there. At this point a tired rookie who's well past his career high in IP and is no longer throwing over 90 on his FB gives us a better chance to win than Jason Jennings. It's more a white flag than a towel. The Astros are done, and I'd bet (or at least I certainly hope) that the Astros know it. Now is the time to see what the Burkes, Scotts, Pattons, et. al. can do with extended uninterrupted playing time (for position players) and consistent starts (for starters). Actually, 4 freaking weeks ago it was freaking time. Things done too late this season:<ul><li><b>Play Luke Scott every day.</b> We're still waiting on that one. He even (iirc) sat the bench against a lefthander against whom he'd compiled a solid BA. Just stupid.</li><li><b>Move Bidge down in the batting order.</b>We're still waiting on this one, too. He got his 3K. How does batting a 41-yr-old with a .300 OBP and more K's than BB's leadoff make sense??</li><li><b>Send Jason Lane down,</b> Don't give me this CF defense stuff--what were they going to gain with CF defense? The playoffs were lost, a .500 season was lost. At this point, a little CF defense is no help to justify running the AAA sub-Mendoza waste of a roster space out there when players who are a part of the future can be getting valuable experience.</li><li><b>Send Jennings to the 60-day DL.</b> I mean come on--he quickly reaches a level of sucktitude he's never known his entire career. Every one of us amateur know-nothings was wondering if he was hurt. And, if he's going to be the Morgan Ensberg of pitchers, cut your losses on a horrible trade and send his ass packing.</li><li><b>Call up Hunter Pence.</b> I was wrong when I disagreed with folks earlier this season. Jason Lane should be flat out released. Perhaps he can rejuvenate his career with another organization. Pence should have been here from day one.</li><li><b>Sew Purpura's mouth closed in time</b> before he traded a solid set man for a mediocre infielder. Holy crap.</li><li><b>Trade Morgan Ensberg</b> for cash. Or a case of peanuts and cracker jacks. And then start Mike Lamb, rather than trading your setup man for Ensberg/Huff redux.</li></ul>What a horrible, horrible year. Imagine a decade of this--so glad this ain't Pittsburgh, KC, Tampa, etc. I'm settling into an opinion on Tim Purpura. And that opinion is, based on the performance this season, that I hope the Astros look elsewhere for GM help. We look more like the Royals than the Astros now. It's embarassing and hard to watch.
Will Jason Lane be on the team next year? Let's see...healthy all season (as far as I know), hitting below .200, played winter ball (didn't he? sure helped), and hits a HR better than he can hit a single. I guess we give him one more shot and cut him early next season if he doesn't improve. I think he is a lost cause at this point ala Ensberg. Of course, a change of scenery and he will probably be back to performing at a high level. lol
If we have room on the roster, I don't mind keeping him as a bench player. He does hit for power, which is also why his average is so low. He always flies out and rarely hits a groundball. He hits the ball pretty hard, just never where you want him to hit it. I think he will go the way of Richard Hidalgo.
