re: Tal's Hill, I am among a teensy-tiny minority that actually likes it. A lot. I like the flagpole, too.
i think way too much is made about them. the flagpole has been a factor maybe once in the 11 years they've played there...and it's certainly not the first flagpole in play in MLB. I know old Tigers Stadium had one...doesn't the new Tiger ballpark have one in play as well?
I don't think so, but can't say for sure. The hill and flagpole were both inspired by older stadiums that had them. I'm a fan of the hill, but not the flagpole. Luckily the pole never affects the game, so it isn't a big deal. Edit: It was, but in 2003 they moved the fence in, taking the pole out of play.
They didn't hire him back as general manager, just as a scout. During his tenure as asst gm or gm with the Phils, they drafted Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Ryan Madson, Gavin Floyd, Brett Myers. They also got Victorino. Ed Wade had a positive impact on the Phillie organization.
I'd be pissed too if I was responsible for getting Ed Wade his job before he got a couple mil golden parachute out while I got two weeks pay. Crane and Postolos don't know **** about baseball. Dude is 78 and still sharp as a tack. When you think baseball in Houston, you think Tal Smith.
I agree Tal is a huge part of baseball historically in Houston, and should be respected. But he was a huge, huge part of the cluster--- that is the current Astros. The guy should have stepped out gracefully; he was way past his prime. The only thing sharp about him currently, evidently, are his arbitration skills and his temper.
How did Ed Wade drive the Astros' bus into the ground? What move did he make that ruined us? Even his bad moves certainly didn't ruin us.
It is as much the moves and improvement he failed to make. His free agent signings were horrible, the drafts were mediocre at best and the return he got in trades was pathetic.
Well he should have traded Brett Myers while the return would have been hot and certainly not given him the big contract. Same could be said about Randy Wolf if you weren't going to give him the big contract (which he's actually lived up too) why not deal him for prospects? He really should have gotten the prospects we recieved in the Pence trade in the Oswalt trade...I mean we did eat almost all of his contract. There probably is some cred in Atlanta saying the offer they gave Houston for Pence was better than what Philadelphia offered. The Michael Bourn trade was what Baseball America called the most one sided trade of the deadline. In terms of what Atlanta sent us and got in return. We could have traded Clint Barmes at the deadline, there were offers but instead we kept him "to have a veteran presence to be a mentor" but then re-signing Clint Barmes suddenly became out of budget. That alone is a synopsis of why Ed Wade so mis-managed the front office. He also ran one of the best and most acclaimed pitching coaches in all of baseball out of town because he refused to make Brandon Lyon the official closer. I like the Pence trade, he did well in alot of the drafts and signed a very high percentage of draft picks (which is alot harder than it seems in baseball)
Wade took the worst farm system in baseball and made it almost average. Given one or two years, it would likely be average. Crane wants better than average, so Wade had to go.
Is the farm system really average? It seems filled with mediocrity. Outside of Singleton and that 16 yr old Dominican kid, is there any true high ceiling prospect ceiling in the bunch? Prospects often fail and don't pan out, but is there anyone in the farm that resembles the potential that people like Lane, Ward, Ensberg, Hidalgo, Carlos Hernandez, Redding, Wade Miller, etc had? I know that system was incredible, I would think most systems should have at least 3 or 4 guys that have potential to be great, and then you hope maybe 1 or 2 actually plan out. It doesn't feel like ours does, though I'm not *that* familiar with the system.
