Astros OK if they stand pat?? i dont think so, Jim Molony does!

That is a really a disingenuous statement.

It would have been better he did not say that. The fans are not dummies. Dreyt is a great salesman and as a salesman myself, we know how to BS as conveniently as possible. Our payroll is high but the backended contracts distorts the whole truth of our current position.

 

IT'S STILL MONEY OUT!!! it still affects the team's bottom line. every team in the league is having payroll reported the exact same way. if there's an obligation they have to pay to a player, injured or otherwise, it's still part of what's reported as that team's payroll. there's nothing deceptive or disingenuous about it. the man still has to write the check.

peoples' generosity with other people's money is funny to me.

 

He has only himself to blame for the Bagwell contract. Look, I think he's areally good owner, but his "poor pitiful me" whining is annoying when it's a consequence of his own bad decisions.

 

who says poor pitiful me? i hear astros fans say that mclane says that. i never hear mclane say it.

richard justice says to get mclane to talk about payroll, you have to corner him. that he won't bring it up unless asked.

truth be told, his comments aren't put in any context at all in this article. we don't know what was asked...we dont' what was said immediately before or after.

 

they don’t have the 3rd highest payroll by choice; they tried to wipe bagwell’s money off the books and failed. because of that, they have no choice but to pay him. but by constantly running to this notion of having the third highest payroll, they want us to believe that had they been able to get out of bagwell’s deal, that they’d still have the third highest payroll and that is patently untrue.

further, don’t tell us you’re doing all you can to build a winner, or that a “$106M team” should be winning more – this is an $88M team compromised by bagwell’s salary.

and that’s fine. let me emphatically repeat that – THAT’S OK. but don’t sell it as something it’s not.

you’re getting me mixed up with others. i never made any claims about specific players.

but… beltran opted out of nothing – he was a free agent. likewise, tejada can only demand a trade; he can’t opt out of anything. if he becomes the first player that i know of to use that clause, then the team will be compensated with players when they trade him.

drayton is free to spend however much $$ he wants; he’s put a quality product on the field for nearly a decade now; he’s kept the local guys home and he’s reached for greatness a lot of the time.

i’m not bashing him. at the same time, don’t tell me you’re doing everything to be a champion by hiding behind the “3rd largest payroll in baseball” line, either – it’s specious reasoning. they would not have the third highest payroll in baseball if drayton had any say; it’d be about $18M less.

and again, that’s fine. but the team cut corners and let bagwell’s salary handicap their roster. to try and sell any other story is disingenuous.

MM, i agree - i hope i'm posts don't paint me as a drayton basher; i'm not.

as i said initially, $106M is $106M. but, do you believe, if he had found a way out of bagwell's deal (and he DID try), that he would have spent that $18M on the team?

and if the answer is no, i'm ok with that. but then don't sell me the "3rd highest payroll" gambit.

 

*NEWSFLASH*

WELCOME TO SPORTS

that's the way it is - for every team, in every city, with every fan. so save us the "spoiled fan" bit.

our offense has SUCKED. for two freaking years. and you're trying to justify why the astros shouldn't make a move to get one of the premeire players in the league??? cute.

and did you not realize the money we have coming off the books next year? in the range of $45 MILLION? and you still give us this bullsh!t schpeil? what good is all this salary if it isn't going to bring a title??? they apparently have a clear opportunity to add the one thing we desperately need (a prime time bat), but are gonna hold off why again? because they think maybe, just maybe, one of the worst hitting teams in the majors the past 2 years can miraculously turn it around - again???

i'm sorry.... i just don't buy it. we may have a very high payroll, and i appreciate what drayton has done, but when almost 1/2 of that payroll is coming off next year using it as an excuse to not make this team much more competitive isn't gonna cut it.

 

He whined about losing money in the Astrodome and he acts like he never made any money at Enron/MMP. For PR's sake, he wants the fans to think that he has a "commitment to winning", but I have always thought he was just gonnna coast this year on last year's success. Bringing back Clemens was part of that PR move because he wanted fans to think that he was seriously looking to win. If the only significant additions to this team are the off-season signing of Wilson and the mid-season trade for Huff, then he was in effect resting on last year's laurels. That may not be such a bad thing because I don't want them blowing everything for one last ditch effort to win in 2006. Next year he should have more flexibility with the salary and that's when the Astros need to make their move.

 

i felt the same way; it's an obvious pre-emptive damage control piece.

molony, i believe, is a freelance writer for MLB, though i'm also fairly certain he used to be or still is based in houston. i think he worked for the post.

 

A lot of folks were eager to see McLane get his hands on the Bagwell insurance check because they thought he would go out and roll that money back into payroll to improve the team. I always thought that was a very dubious assumption.

 

1. i never hear him whine.

2. he did lose money in the astrodome. i've never heard anyone make a convincing argument to the contrary. yet he still increased payroll every year.

3. he's an owner, not a gm. you don't think bringing in clemens was a good baseball move based on what clemens showed you last season????

 

The key to this whole season is Ensberg. If he gets back healthy and returns to form it will be just as good as adding another bat. Last year he was a bigtime catalyst in the lineup during the second half run, continuosly getting clutch hits and producing.

If he doesn't return to form, kiss the playoffs goodbye. Purpura and Drayton are in a tough situation here...there's not enough time to see whether Ensberg will truly get back again this year, so they're either going to have to jeopardize the future for what could be a 2 month rental or risk it with Ensberg.

 

There it is.

 

He whines all the time. It's part of an effort to solicit sympathy from the fans.

I've never seen actual proof that he lost money in the Astrodome.

I do think bringing Clemens was a good baseball move, but in a vaccum and absent other moves, it accomplished little. Therefore, until they make another significant move, it looks like it was more for PR's sake.

 

Please prove this absurd accusation.

The only whiners are the idiotic so-called fans who do nothing but b**** and moan despite being lucky enough to watch one of the most accomplished teams in MLB over the past decade.

 

i don't see/hear the whining gwayneco. i don't hear him whining now.

 

I agree somewhat. I may have been misunderstood a 'lill bit - I am not mad at Dreyt as it concerns how he spends or plans to spend his money. In fact I understand the situation - I will be reluctant as well to let go Hirsh or Troy or Pence or any other blue chip prospect with the way the market is shaped. The last thing I want is reach over unnecessarily. I am not sure I will complain or frown whatsovere they choose to do this season - they have a little pass because of what they have accomplished in the last 2 seasons.

That said, my point is centered on the statement without prejudice. The statement reeks of faux-naif to me - it is not necessary, we know what's up.

 

i took Latin.

 

Drayton spends his money, I'll give him that ... mostly in all the wrong places. We suck, face it.

I don't know about yoos, but with people knowing I'm an Astros fan & all that, even if they know sbsolutely NOTHING about baseball , they've been coming up to me recently & commenting about how much we suck, & how Clemens gets ZERO run support & how we never score runs, & that we always lose on national TV ... I'm as sick of that as the actual losing.


Face it, the run is over. We're not going to do anything, & we prolly won't do much in the off-season either. We'll watch all of the offense go elsewhere & we'll be back here next year doing the same b****ing.

I hope to be proven wrong, but that's my op.

We're going to be SWEPT by the Reds. Then what? Oooh, no sweat, the August run is coming.

 

No it hasn't. It sucked in April & May last year when Berkman was hurt. From June through October, it was the #5 offense in the NL.

And it didn't suck this April. It sucked in May, June, and July. So it has sucked for 5 out of the last 11 months of baseball now.