Are the Stros really serious about improving their linuep?

C'mon! Everyone knows the Astros offseason is actually the midseason. That's when we make most of our significant acquisitions. So don't go holding your breath.

 

If you are only happy with a World Series win then you will be sad most of your life regardless which team you root for.

 

i can't believe people can be so negative. i'm not saying i was satisfied..that i was happy they lost. but, geez...out of 32 teams, the Houston Astros were in the final two still playing at the end. they are the National League Champions. do you know how long i've been waiting to say that??

again..not saying i'm satisfied. you bring up the marlins, angels and d-backs. great. in baseball, any team can beat any other team in a series. it's like that in baseball more than it is in any other sport. the white sox were riding fire...the astros got beat. that happens. but criticizing the organization a year after they won the NL pennant for the product they put on the field? seriously, give me a break.

 

If you truly weren't satisfied, wouldn't you be a little upset that the White Sox have already upgraded their team -- which was better than the Astros last year -- by landing Thome and re-signing Konerko, while the Astros have declined to offer arbitration to Clemens and haven't signed anyone noteworthy? If you truly weren't satisfied by last year's performance, then you should not be satisfied by the progression of this year's offseason.

The goal is to win a World Championship. When you are on the brink, like the past two teams have been, you want the front office to take you to that next level, not to pull you back because they are on a shoestring budget.

Ticket price increases, brand new stadium, $15mm extra in television revenue, loads of postseason revenue, loads of merchandise revenue -- where has it gone? Drayton has the ability to increase payroll. We, as fans, want to see that.

 

We probably never will.

 

And while you're all clamoring over that opinion, you've all been missing some pretty good baseball by this team.

Judging by this thread... most of you seemed dissapointed with last year... well, I'm sorry, cause even if this team was loaded up with a $200 million dollar payroll, I still see us needing a touch of magic (as we had last year) if we're going to get back to the WS.

Just look at the Cardinals... a team perfectly constructed.... they had the MVP, the cy young, an all-star closer, gold-glove defense, hitters, bullpen, catcher, decent 2nd and 3rd starters... and they were pretty much decimated by the Astros in the NLCS.

If all it took was a great team on paper, and big names, St. Louis should have been the representative for the NL for the last 5 years... alas, they only went there once, looked even worse than the Astros did in their WS appearance, and are now looking to possibly downgrade the team, as they're moving into a new stadium, cause the one that was out there was too expensive with not enough returns.

 

Totally wrong. We are disappointed by the front office's moves, both this year and last year. When we are so close to winning it all, you'd like to see the front office and owner want to make the moves to put the team over the top. Is that what we've done this year by refusing to offer arbitration to our best pitcher and sitting on our hands while the top talent is picked off by other teams (including the team that blanked us in the world series)? Last year we were in the same position -- in a position to put our team over the top and win a title -- when Drayton and Purpura dumped Kent and Beltran because of salary constraints. Given the dramatic increases in revenue that the team has experienced, due to higher ticket prices, a new stadium, an extra $15mm annually in tv revenue, postseason income, and higher revenue from merchandise sales, you would think that the budget wouldn't be dominating the offseason talks AGAIN. It is. It's sad. Is last year the best we can hope for as Astros fans? A bridesmaid finish after being swept? My expectations are higher.

 

So if they had made all your requested moves last year (re-sign Beltran, Kent), and somehow they didn't make it as far... would you not have complained at the time about some other facet of the organization?

I'm just glad you're not a Cardinals fan then... the organization does all the "right" moves, the players perform great on the field... and somehow, you STILL don't win. Now, their fans are clamoring for the same things... why did they lose out on Burnett, why couldn't they re-sign Grudz, Morris, Sanders... when are they going to do something. Maybe Tim and Drayton are smart... they purposely build a team that might not have enough on paper... and when they do good, its all gravy (j/k).

All that proves is that there is much more to this game than the big-budget signings (which historically decimate a team more than improve), and multi-player trades that all fans just salivate over... and my evidence for that is a team like the Astros winning the NL last year, the White Sox coming out of nowhere to win the WS, the Marlins in 03.... while teams like the Cardinals, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, and Braves come up short.

I know everyone wants to see all these moves being made (without suggesting any particular one), but unless there's a bonafied stud OF who's a FA right now (which there's not)... who else could they possibly get that would actually fill a dire need? I don't doubt that they've been attempting to trade for an all-star calibur player, but those things are very very hard to accomplish unless you're willing to give up possible future studs in your farm system... and if you're advocating for that, you couldn't possibly be a fan of this year's, last year's, or any recent astro-team, cause they're primarily made up of the home-grown players that probably would have been traded by now if a fan was the GM of this team.

 

We're not asking for "big budget signings". All we are asking for is for the team to make some sort of improvement. All we have seen over the past two offseasons is the continued atrophy of the team. Losing Beltran. Losing Kent. Not offering arbitration to Clemens. Not going after *anyone*. Our team won last year *in spite of* Purpura's moves. We lost two of our best bats last offseason. This offseason we are faced with losing our best pitcher. When will it end? Who are we signing that is stemming the tide of losses?

To compound matters, all of this is being done in the midst of a massive revenue increase for the owner. Is something wrong here?

 

Theur results have been no different than ours other than they perform much better during the regular season

My guess is that their fans aren't clamoring because they know that their mgmt will go out and get who they need


All in all, its hard to argue with success...period. We have been successful...a lot moreso than most other teams in the majors. Unfortunately, offseasons, as long as Drayton owns the team, are not going to been overly exciting.

My main concern is that Purp has not done anything to warrant me thinking he is any good at what he does.

 

I agree with this statement, except that I would point out that some of the Astros' offseasons *have* been exciting. Jeff Kent was exciting. Clemens/Pettitte was exciting.

You think last year's offseason was bad--how about Christmas 1999 before the 2000 season? Now, *that* SUCKED.

 

Yes..

 

good point

 

I'm saying that their fans ARE complaining/clamoring for all the same issues we are, as they're wondering why they've missed out on all the countless free agents/trades despite them moving into a new stadium, and having all the extra cash from the MLB satellite radio deal.

My point is that all fans, no matter how knowledgeable, spend too much effort/energy criticizing management for the lack of moves... when it really has yet to be proven that any of those said moves would work, or not doing the moves would backfire. I'm not advocating the Astros not making ANY moves... but I'm going to limit it to simply their big-time needs, namely a stud OF if available via trade, an adequate lefty reliever, and some marginal starting pitching depth (they'll probably promote from within there).

All of us looked at last year's off-season as a failure BEFORE the season. After the season, I don't see how any of us could have been dissapointed with what happened on the field... and if it was our lack of an off-season that helped to make that team into the "perfect storm", so be it... put that argument to bed.

I don't think its anywhere near as simple as taking the view of TJ and saying "well, if we had re-signed Kent and Beltran, or gotten another bat, we'd be WS champs for sure... " If that were the case, as I said before, the Cardinals would have won the NL last year.

 

I for one was disappointed with what the Astros had on the field last season. Who can be satisfied with the offense we had?

You guys seem to think the World Series showing justifies Purpura not improving the offense. This makes no sense to me. Without the amazing pitching performances by Pettitte, Clemens and Oswalt this team would have never even sniffed the playoffs.

If the above 3 pitchers had their average seasons last year we'd have never gotten the wild card. The pitching saved the season. We can't count on another career year from Pettitte and Clemens.

 

Funny you shold say that....I was just thinking that all this talk about needing a bat and we seem to have forgotten that we lost our best pitcher from last year and have yet to replace him. Granted, i guess theres a chance he comes back may 1....but who knows?

 

Damn....White Sox are still moving...they just got Vazquez

 

He had a wonderful year last year.

 

Exactly, not only do we need to improve on last year's problem...a bat, but now we have to improve on one of our main strengths we had...starting pitching.

And what does the organization done to show for it...nothing so far.

 

Correction: "what does the organization successfully done to show for it...nothing so far".

To say they haven't worked on things would be ludicrous. People around here act like the Astros' brass get together at Thanksgiving and say, "What do you say we just sit tight all winter and hope for the best?" "Sounds good to me!" "Great! Let's go play golf."