I voted no myself. Last year would have been that point with me, then Drayton sold the team. New owner needs a payroll of less than nothing, so he can install his own GM and spend his money where he sees fit. I've only heard good things about Crane, that he's willing to spend a ton of money on winners. He knows that if he signs 2-3 all star, recognizable players, the fans will return and thus his investment will be worth it. He also knows this won't happen just this next year, so trading our stars now for pieces who can help when this team is competitive is the way to go (although to be honest, Bourn was the one player I didn't want traded) I'll put in a far ahead guess and say by 2013, the Astros win at least 70 games.
Career is being used a little loosely here. Put it this way, Jason Heyward is batting .219. I trust that if the braves would have offered him, you would have praised a deal that got him. Shaefer was no less of a hot prospect than Heyward was. Give these players time.
...and yes Schafer has always been less of a hot prospect compared to Heyward. I have no clue where you are getting the idea that Schafer was ever the same level of prospect of Heyward....but wherever it is from is dead wrong.
How are they supposed to "prove" anything yet? They're all prospects! That was the point of it all. Also, you have to realize that we got the BEST years out of Oswalt/Lidge (who both may be retired soon), the best years out of Lance Berkman (who has a mini-resurgence this year, but still probably has only 2-3 really good years left in him), as well as likely the best out of Pence (who may not be any better than he is right now). Bourn may go on to have a Kenny Lofton-like career, with more ASG appearances ahead... but he's close to 30 with too high of a price tag for a non-contender. So, if the prospects you get for them in return can come close... namely if Singleton can be somewhere in betwen Berkman and Pence (entirely possible), and one of those power arm pitchers can turn into an ace, while another be a potential closer, the organization still ends up being on top in the long run.
I see a helluva lot more direction for the Astros than the Rockets. The Astros suck and are building young. Every move they're making is about adding youth to the farm. We can all disagree about whether the youth they're adding is good or not...but the direction they're taking to get back to respectability is clear. I can not say the same thing for the Rockets, unfortunately. The franchise as a whole is much more vibrant than it was when I was a kid growing up here. I think it's because MOST of this franchise's best moments happened at MMP, over the last 10 years. I've seen now what it looks like for my team to win big time playoff games...to hit the walk off to win a playoff series...to win a pennant. They just need to find a way to win a World Series before I die.
I said no. It is the lowest point I've experienced, but I assume the team being taken over by GE's & Ford's Credit companies would be the low point.
Ding! Ding! Or trading Joe Morgan away. Or trading Rusty Staub for Clendonnan (sp?), only to have the guy throw a fit, refuse the trade, and have MLB rule that the Astros have to take somebody else from the Expos' roster while still losing Staub. Reason enough to *still* hate the Nats. Concerning futility, this will certainly be the low point in Astros history. We have never lost 100 games, and that's going to suck, suck, suck. But if I needed to express the low point in Astros history in five words or less, I could get it done in just two: Spec. Richardson.
How did Schafer talk invade this thread lol looks like he will be just as much of a lighting rod here as he was in the ATL. First thing I do is to tell him the same things the Stros told Bourn...slap the ball the other way, learn to bunt and use your speed by pounding the ball into the ground. He isn't a power hitter or a hot shot prospect anymore but it is time to become a baseball player. This weekend reminded me of when the Stros traded Glenn Davis, heartbreaking for me but necessary. It was the last time we went through a full rebuilding plan and interestingly enough going through an ownership change. Difference there was we got MLB ready talent in return for Davis which made the process much shorter. This will take longer but in the end if you can tell me we will be WS contender in a few years, I'll take it.
I'd say the low point was around this time a year ago. You could sense it coming since 2007, though somehow the Astros went on incredibly improbable runs in 2008 and even 2009 to be somewhat in contention. (Anyone remember the Miguel Tejada walkoff that put the 'Stros within a half-game of the division lead right before the deadline in 2009? Hard to believe that was just two years.) Anyway, especially with the likes of Singleton and Cosart, there are a few potential studs in the system. Generally, it's no longer regarded as the worst farm system in MLB. Also, the sale of the team (which kept rebuilding in limbo) is virtually complete, and we're likely a couple of months from hiring one of the best GMs in the game. There's still a very, very long way to go. But on this August 1, you can see a dim light in the distance, even if the return on the Bourn deal was underwhelming. You couldn't see that this time a year ago. To me, we're near the bottom... but the absolute bottom was 2010.
yeah, that was not so good. my low point may have been when i heard the first radio report that the Astros were considering a move to Northern Virginia....and then hitting refresh on the electrion returns the night of the referendum to build The Ballpark at Union Station, which did not look good until really late when it barely passed.
I said "NO" also, and basically agree with this. Now there is hope, movement, and direction. It is the low point in terms of the quality of the team we have, but I value other things in my assessment of the team besides wins and losses.
1969 was the most exciting year in franchise history up to that point. 4-20 start (probably made the stoners happy ), with loss number 20 being a no-hitter. Win number 5 was a no-hitter and the Astros were in contention in September of that year.
correct. but they made all the wrong moves from 1969 forward, and things didn't start looking up until '78 or '79, and McMullen's purchase of the club in '80.
Develop, trade, restock You are a fool if you think that 2 of Martinez, Altuve, or Paredes will still be Astros in two years. They will just be more pieces to garner more prospects until we have system wide depth that we are comfortable with. Ask your Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, and Pirates buddies how this works.
He was a higher rated prospect in baseball america at one time than anybody we got, including cosart and singleton. Enormous? It'd call it that, yes. And yes, I knew that you could BOLDLY pronounce that he wasn't nowhere near the talent of heyward when I compared the two. Go on and get all worked up, lol. But the fact remains that schafer was rated in the top 25 prospects and heyward was rated number 1 out of the thousands of players in the minors, so my statement, and like schafer he is having it rough in the pros. So there is a comparison here, even if YOU don't want to see it. The fact is, you seem to think that schafer is garbage and a throw in in the deal, but you most likely won't say the same about heyward if he were apart of the deal. Why do you still believe the heyward hype if you have given up on the schafer hype? Oh, and before you bring out the all knowing first year stats, where he had 18 homers and was batting .277, remember that once pitchers figure you out the learn how to exploit your weaknesses, and therefore the second year and so on it gets MORE difficult to maintain your level of play. schafer, as bad as he's played - has improved since last year, and he is fighting injury and he hasn't had a full year of bats. So forgive me if I don't share your pessimistic viewpoit on him. He has every skill to make this deal worth bourn by himself.
Sophmore slumps are common, and in addition, Heyward has been injured. Heyward is also younger, and hit well throughout his minor league career. Schafer has 2 good minor league seasons out of 5, and has done nothing in the minors or majors in 3 seasons, which corresponds to a time when he was suspended 50 games for HGH suspicions and then got injured. I actually wanted Shafer in a deal with ATL, but as a throw-in (and maybe that is what he is), but he feels like a major piece, given the Astros didn't get one of the top 4 prospects.
