MadMax, know you are a bigger stros fan than I once was, but you got to admit,...this is a crap. As a bonafide fan, what is it that is appealing this offseason about the Astros?
I'm not happy about it. I said that. But we're not the Pirates. And to pretend the owner is driving us into Pirate-land is ridiculous when you're talking about a $100 million payroll.
Ok....so I guess you would rather wait until after a +100-loss 2009 season to lose perspective then, right?
Max, While you might not think Drayton is driving the franchise to "Pirate-land," can you honestly say he is driving the franchise to a winning season? Forgot Championship contention, or even playoffs....I'm talkin about a measly "winning season" at this point? If the answer is no, what do you have. I'll answer that for you....."Pirate-land"
We've had more winning seasons than losing seasons with Drayton...far and away the best years of this franchise. That's the perspective I'm talking about. I'm not thrilled with this offseason. I do not think we're going to be very good this season.
I think we will be pretty solid heading into the season. Berkman and Lee should still be a dominating force in the middle of the lineup. Maybe Pence will take the next step. Kaz Matsui should be healthy and ready to contribute. Bourn will most likely lead the MLB in steals, if he could get on base more Our offense shouldn't be a problem. What have we done to improve our pitching, though?
The Pirates have not had a winning record since 1992. That was a long time ago. They have become what I will call "institutionally bad." That is to say that they are bad every year. They have no chance to compete for anything, in any year. The Astros are not in that position, and likely will not be. The Pirates had a $49M payroll last year. That is less than half than the Astros will spend on player salaries. It just is NOT the same thing.
I'm not trying to knock your optimism but a few points you made just seem flawed. On the Bourn comment, that's like saying Abercrombie could be an All-Star leadoff hitter if he just didn't strike out so much. Getting on base more isn't an easy task. I think you understate how difficult that may be for him. He hasn't proven that he can get on base even league average yet. He had the lowest OBP of any CFer in baseball last season, I believe. He has room for growth and has reportedly been playing well in winter ball or whatever but until he proves himself in the ML, he is what he is. At least he's still young. And I'm not so sure our offense won't be a problem. We have the potential to be among the worst in the league at 3B, CF and C. That means almost half of our lineup could end up being a HUGE black hole. And I like Kaz but he proves year after year that he truly is injury prone. Sure, he may finally get over that hump but the odds are definitely against it. I would be happy if he plays 110 games given his history. I agree that Berkman and Lee will do their thing and Pence taking it to the next level is a real possibility but is that really enough to think that our offense won't be an issue? Unless Tejada truly has a bounce back "super season", as he put it, we will be lucky to be in the middle of the pack, offensively. Last season, we were below average in almost every offensive category, save a few. Sure, we had some injuries but so did a lot of other teams. Throw in the potential for really lousy starting pitching and we could be in for a very ugly season. Does anybody really expect Hampton to stay healthy? He makes Kaz look like Iron Man. Who knows though, maybe something will still get done between now and next season.
Not surprisingly, this is precisely how I feel (and stated more succinctly). Could McLane's organization do better? Could he? Well, I'm sure he could. Is he better than Ford Motors Credit Association? Better than McMullen? Of course.
Look, I understand you've had winning seasons. My point, the Pirates organization doesnt try to win. And with these latest off season moves, can you honestly say the Astros are trying to win? To me, it sounds like some Astros fans have lost the passion to to see their team deliver a World Series Title to the Lone Star state and instead, are now perfectly fine with MEDOCRITY, and thats sad.
At least wait until spring training starts to criticize the moves they have made to acquire Boone, Hampton and Michaels. I don't know what they may have planned prior to the start of the season. I do remember how most fans and local/national sportswriters were highly critical of their moves to acquire Hawkins and Wolf, yet had Ike taken a different path, there was an excellent chance that those 2 acquisitions would have been the catalyst for them making the playoffs.
Get back to me in March. Or at least freakin' February 1st. Geeeeeeez. The Astros aren't trying win, only to be barely mediocre enough to sell a few tickets; Astros fans really don't want to see a World Series title, just more .500 seasons If you honestly believe that hooey, I invite you to look with me at the Astrodome from 1966 though about 1996, sans four or five seasons. See all those empty seats? Yeah, Houston likes winning. I can't believe people with enough intelligence to type on a keyboard could actually say stupid crap like that. Geez.
Bobrek, Im usually one who waits to see how things pan out. Rarely has anyone ever heard me complain before on this board. In fact, through all of the Stros off season moves (including dumping Ty) I've been quiet, patiently waiting for things to pan out. But dumping Wiggy for Boone....c'mon, we know how this will turn out. It does not look good for 2009, many here can see it. And that sucks cause it just KILLS the optimisim that any baseball fan should feel on opening day.
Half of my post disappeared. After the customary eyerolling emoticons, I had typed the following: Do you realize how freaking old it gets for Internet know-it-alls like yourself to accuse us of crap like just simply because we have the gall to disagree with your assessment of personnel decisions? Geeez la-fricken-wheez.
No you haven't. It's freaking December. You haven't waited for a damn thing. Most of us are predicting a .500ish season for the Astros. I don't like nontendering Wiggy either. But thanks for hte exclusive "many of us" line.
I'm no "Know-It-All," I'm just a fan who wants to see better for his team then the moves we've seen lately.
