This team needs to avenge all those years where we essentially acted as the farm team for Philadelphia... the moves by Ed Wade with his former team. Nov 7, 2007 - Traded Brad Lidge (P) and Eric Bruntlett (IF) to Phi-N for Geoff Geary (P), Michael Bourn (OF) and Mike Constanzo (IF) Jul 29, 2010 - Traded Roy Oswalt (P) and cash to PHI-N for J.A. Happ (P), Anthony Gose (OF) and Jonathan Villar (IF) Jan 10, 2011 - Traded Albert Cartwright (IF) to PHI-N for Sergio Escalona (P) Jul 29. 2011 - Traded Hunter Pence (OF) to PHI-N for Jarred Cosart (P), Jonathan Singleton (IF), Josh Zeid (P) and Domingo Santana (OF)
I wouldn't call that acting like their farm team, but definitely were instrumental to them winning that WS.
I said so at the time. He was too busy trying to salvage his reputation in Philadelphia to use common sense as GM in Houston. He was NEVER an ASTRO GM at heart.
He did promote Altuve (and JD Martinez) way before anybody thought he would... and those OTJ MLB years helped him develop even faster. And while Luhnow did oversee some major tank jobs... the Astros actually "earned" the #1 pick (Correa/LMJ) all by themselves under Wade (Luhnow oversaw the draft, but was not the GM for the year prior when they sucked).
Yeah, **** Ed Wade. Michael Bourn was the only player out of that bunch that did anything for us (Happ ended up having a few good seasons after he left Houston though). Don't forget he was also the Phillies GM when he got Billy Wagner from us for absolutely nothing due to cheap ass Drayton McLane making cost cutting moves.
Jarred Cosart turned into Marisnick, which helped the Astros win the 2017 WS, and Moran, who helped the Astros acquire Cole, getting them to another World Series in 2019 and indirectly helping them get to one this year. Happ also got them Musgrove, who also helped get Cole.
The Pence trade was an excellent haul, prospects don't always pan out. There's really nothing wrong, absent massive hindsight, about any of them. Except for the devastating loss of Albert Cartwright.
I had forgotten what happened to Santana... then I immediately regretted looking up the trade he was involved in.
More than anything I don't want to remember this team like the 90s Braves, always got far in the playoffs but only won it all once.
It's not Wade's fault that Luhnow chose to hold onto big prospects instead of cashing them in properly. In terms of what he inherited on the farm vs what he left, Ed Wade absolutely did a solid job, and that's with Drayton breathing down his neck to try and win with teams that had no business attempting to do so. It ultimately worked out for us a few years down the road so nobody would change a thing, but we left probably 4 top 100 prospects on the board holding onto Berkman and Oswalt 2 years longer than we should have.
I don't know man- I don't see a single bad trade in that bunch if I'm being honest. Bourn, Happ, Villar, Cosart all had significant MLB careers. Singleton and Santana were on top 100 lists. You are talking about trading 4 guys who were in walk years of their deals and you got back real talent in return for them. Job well done by Ed Wade imo. Really, I always thought Ed got a bad rep that was undeserved. He was handed a real **** sandwich and started making some investments in minor leagues, convinced Drayton to trade some of our guys, and signed Altuve and Keuchel. He wasn't great or awesome like Luhnow or anything, but he wasn't the abject disaster that a guy like Tim Pupura was.
Owner Drayton McClane, Ed Wade and Bobby Heck Drafted George Springer Tim Purpura I think signed Jose Altuve as a 15 year old from Venezuela
Aw cute... Phillies wanted to emulate us... The Phillies Wanted To Be The Astros. Now They’ll Have To Beat Them For A World Series. https://fivethirtyeight.com/feature...-theyll-have-to-beat-them-for-a-world-series/ As hard as it can be to remember now, with the Houston Astros headed for their fourth World Series in six seasons, the franchise was once notable for its capacity for self-inflicted losing. As part of a radical rebuilding plan, Houston from 2011 to 2013 became just the seventh team since 1901 to pile up at least 320 losses in a three-year span. Such a thorough tanking effort, one of the first of its kind in the current era, proved to be the surprisingly predictable prelude to a run of dominance that produced a championship in 2017 and continues to this day. While the Astros were performing their turnaround, other teams were noticing the strategy — including the Philadelphia Phillies. In 2015, the same season the fruits of Houston’s losing helped it return to the playoffs, Philadelphia dismissed rebuild-resistant former general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., clearing the way for a full-scale teardown that sure looked like what the Astros underwent.
