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

He tries to act like he's some sort of martyr even after getting a new stadium. The attitude is annoying as hell.

 

Do you have any quotes to back that up? Whatever sports reporter that was mentioned earlier says Drayton avoids talking about finances as much as possible.

 

Linked ain't inked. Close counts only in horsehoes and hand grenades. Besides, until proven otherwise, I am going to assume it was all for show.

 

He tries to claim that because he raised payroll he hasn't made any money at MMP.

 

Gotcha. So your assumption is the Astros waste their time talking to other clubs (not to mention annoy the clubs who are dealing with uninterested trading partners) to make fans think they are pursuing trades. Makes perfect sense.

Strange that you'd follow such a terrible organization with a terrible owner and a lying, fraudulent GM.

 

Quotes please.

 

I think he's a great owner, but anybody who doesn't have his head up Uncle Drayton's ass can recognize the whining. He whined about the Astrodome shortly after telling the Oilers it was a great facility. He whines that he really hasn't made any money at MMP. This site once had a SAVEOURROCKETS.COM site, maybe the powers that be can start a Saveuncledrayton.com to help this altruistic public servant avoid the poor house that Jeff "Scrooge" Bagwell is sending him to.

 

Can you not read? I think he's a great owner, but I think all this Tejada talk was pure BS.

 

It's based on an interview with Palillo from a couple of years ago, though if I wanted to I could probably find some quotes that said basically the same thing.

 

You said that you think it was intentional simply to appease fans - essentially, you're calling him and Purpura frauds for making up interest in a potential trade. How exactly is a fraudulent owner that lies to fans a good owner?

 

OK, Private ... if you want to get testicle about it, here are the current payrolls of every *current* MLB team. Go through this list, Pyle, & every team with a LOWER payroll & a BETTER record *currently* ... why, there's the answer that you so crave.

Right off the bat, I'd say that the owner of the Tigers, & the owner of The Twins "spend their money better than Drayton."

1 New York Yankees $194,663,079
2 Boston Red Sox $120,099,824
3 Los Angeles Angels $103,472,000
4 Chicago White Sox $102,750,667
5 New York Mets $101,084,963
6 Los Angeles Dodgers $98,447,187
7 Chicago Cubs $94,424,499
8 Houston Astros $92,551,503
9 Atlanta Braves $90,156,876
10 San Francisco Giants $90,056,419
11 St. Louis Cardinals $88,891,371
12 Philadelphia Phillies $88,273,333
13 Seattle Mariners $87,959,833
14 Detroit Tigers $82,612,866
15 Baltimore Orioles $72,585,582
16 Toronto Blue Jays $71,915,000
17 San Diego Padres $69,896,141
18 Texas Rangers $68,228,662
19 Minnesota Twins $63,396,006
20 Washington Nationals $63,143,000
21 Oakland Athletics $62,243,079
22 Cincinnati Reds $60,909,519
23 Arizona Diamondbacks $59,684,226
24 Milwaukee Brewers $57,568,333
25 Cleveland Indians $56,031,500
26 Kansas City Royals $47,294,000
27 Pittsburgh Pirates $46,717,750
28 Colorado Rockies $41,233,000
29 Tampa Bay Devil Rays $35,417,967
30 Florida Marlins $14,998,500

I like Drayton, I don't even know why you're being such a fool about it ... you've spent ALL DAY defending our 47-53 record, & we're losing 4-1 *currently*

All's I said is that he spends it in the wrong places sometimes. In fact, our hot start this year was WITHOUT Clemens. As soon as he came back, & Drayton gave him 22 million pro-rated, we tank.

Now, I like Clemens as much as you do, but you TRULY think that our offense is fine the way it is, & doesn't need a major improvement? That's a more valid question then watching you yak up & down about near misses.

Horseshoes & grenades, just like gwayneco said.

 

So the Tigers, who haven't made the playoffs in who knows how long, are better spenders because they are having one good season? I didn't realize money-spending was limited to a single year. Was the owner a moron last year and a genius this year? Was Drayton a really smart spender last year, but a moron this year?

The Twins are certainly great at efficient spending (Oakland also) - but they both have had far less success than the Astros over the past decade - neither has won a playoff series. Would you rather have been any of those franchises?

 

From the very first page in this thread, I said:


Look, this team sucks right now, but it's not something that can be fixed with a trade. To win a World Series (or even make the playoffs), you have to have a good collection of talent (we do), and most of those guys have to perform to expectations with a few performing above expectations. Last year, the White Sox pitching staff performed well above expectations. For us, Ensberg, Ausmus (in the 2nd half), Petttitte, Clemens, Qualls, and Wheeler performed above expectations, and that took a good team and made it great.

If you look at this team right now, no one is performing above expectations except some part-time players (Burke, Lamb), who weren't even supposed to be starting. On the opposite side, most players are performing below expectations - Biggio, Ausmus, Everett, Ensberg, Wilson, Willy T, Oswalt, Pettitte, Qualls, Wheeler, Lidge. A trade doesn't solve anything. Unless these guys perform at least to what was reasonably expected, adding Tejada isn't going to make one bit of a difference. An extra bat won't make this team go from scoring 3 runs a game to 6 runs a game - it's just a matter of the current bats actually doing something.

 

I understand that The 'Stros have fielded a relatively competitive team for a while now, but it's about the windows of opportunity. Wouldn't you like to win it just once?

Thus far, zero titles. In the end, that means the same thing as finishing in last place every stinking year.


We have the opportunity to improve ourselves with offense. Sure ya need to gut part of the farm system, but what else can you do TO WIN A TITLE NOW!? If you're content to go from WS runner-up to finishing below .500, that's up to you. I'm not. As a lifelong fan, I'd like to see ALL of the eggs go into one basket RIGHT effing now.

Look at The Marlins. They were invented in what year? I'm not even sure. Wasn't that long ago ... Sometime in the 90's .. TWO TITLES!

Every person on this board would sell their soul to the great beast himself for two titles in less than 10 years, & girl you know it's true!

 

& it's a different age in sports. We all know that. It IS proven that you can buy a WS.

The already talked about Marlins being an example. The Yankees always buy wins. Their 90's titles prove that.

The Mets, the Tigers - Outhouse to the penthouse in no time.

 

That's not determined by payroll. Smart spending gets you to the playoffs. Being on a hot streak and a little bit of luck gets you a title.

Not for me. I've had a blast as a fan the last two years. I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if I were a fan of the Pirates. And since the whole point of sports is having fun, I think there's a huge difference in being competitive as opposed to being dead last.

Of course, the same could have been said last year, and we could have "gutted" Burke and others. Or the previous year, and we could have gutted some of the 5 or 6 rookies that were critical to last year's run to the World Series. Adding a bat fixes nothing if none of the current players perform to expectations. The beauty of this franchise is there's not a "window of opportunity". By not "going for broke" all the time, they've been good for a decade and should continue to be. Next year, they have tons of good young talent plus $30+ MM in payroll to get free agents.

And what happens if we don't win it all, which is the most likely scenario? Even with an extra bat, or even two bats, the AL teams are substantially better. We didn't win it last year with a dominant Oswalt, Pettitte, Wheeler, Qualls, and Lidge. What makes you think we would with an extra bat but none of those five doing well?

I wouldn't want to be the Marlins. I know many others wouldn't. Part of sports is following your team and the players. If they gut the team after winning a title, what's the point? Would you enjoy watching your team go 62-100 every other year? I would be bored out of my mind most years following that team.

 

The Yankees in the 90's didn't buy their titles. They were mostly homegrown talent and their payroll at the time of those titles was really not that high. When they started adding all the free agents with Mussina, Giambi, A-Rod, Kevin Brown, etc, and dumped players like Tino Martinez, they stopped winning it all.

The Mets & Tigers haven't won any titles. The Marlins bought their first title - but they also got lucky in several games in the playoffs. The 2nd Marlins title was quite the cheap, low-budget team with lots of young players.

 

Fair enough, Major.


For tonight at least, let's let bygones be bygones because holy crap, we're WINNING! The offense is exploding!


I'll buy you a beer if we hold on & win.

 

It could be proven just as easily that you can't buy a WS...see the Yankees since they lost to the D'Backs.

 

Sounds good!