Cardinals get ROLEN dammit!!

OK, if we want to contend w/ the Cardinals now, there is no doubt that we have to make some sort of move. If we don't the Cards will smoke us.

 

By the end of the season, Drayton will be wondering why no fans are coming to watch his team. If he sits on his hands and watches as the Cardinals and the Reds make trades to improve their teams, what does he think will happen?

It really ticks me off. For years all he would say is "we need a new stadium to make any money." So we build the stadium, and he STILL won't spend anything. Now, he says "if I can't make any money, I'm going to sell the team." How can you make any money when you don't do what is necessary to help this team?

I hope he does sell the team, because this is so frustrating. How does he expect to win with Berkman playing centerfield? With Blum playing 3rd? Or with Ward and Hidalgo in the lineup every day? All of this while a 3rd baseman gets traded to our closest rival, and a centerfielder (Kenny Lofton) gets traded for not too much in return.

I guess none of this even matters if they strike anyway...

 

Uh oh ! I hope he doesn't sign an extension there b/c he's a great 3rd baseman (having a down year). This move could haunt us for years. Maybe we can match it by bring Morgan Ensberg back up.

 

There will be a strike, which will end the season. Who knows when baseball will be back.

 

im optimistic that a strike will not occur. Aug. 16th has been mentioned as the 1st strike day, but I think its been set to speed up negotiations. Neither side can afford to go through a strike.

 

You must be real real optimistic to think baseball can solve their problems by Aug. 16th.

 

I always wondered how good Livan would be if his managers didn't keep trying to pitch him into the ground.

If we traded for Livan, and subsequently fell out of the race - I would hope we would shut Livan down for the remainder of the year - I really, really would like to see if he could cash in on the promise he showed in his rookie season.

 

We can still catch them. We have enuff talent already. The offense has to pick up the average pitchers. IT doesn't matter how we win. So long as we do.

 

With the impending strike, I don't see the Stros making any moves, regardless of what St. Louis does. I am perfectly happy with the core of guys that we currently have, and I think we can beat the Cardinals in a full season race with relative health and a bit more experience for some of our young uns.

 

I never said they would solve the problems by the 16th. The point of setting the date is to hurry up the process. Right now, talks are stale and nothing is happening. By setting the date, it forces both sides to get more serious with the discussions. If ANY progress is made, the strike date will be lifted.

 

Drayton is praying to God that a strike occurs. It would help him use the upcoming strike as an excuse not to make a move, as well as the fact that he would quit "losing money".

 

I read an article recently that said that Drayton had also issued a mandate to the scouts and Hundsicker not to sign any of the players they just drafted until the strike is resolved. Hopefully after the 2004 all-star game he will sell the team and go back to Temple.

 

Go Strike!

 

Cards getting Rolen hurts bad, but they did give up Placido Polanco, Bud Smith and Mike Timlin three players that have help them win games this year well maybe not Bud Smith but he is a good picher too, just young.

 

First, Drayton rallied for a new stadium at a time when the Yankees were the highest revenue producers at $130M. The stadium gives the Astros $135M in revenues. Seems like he'd be able to compete with the big boys. Well, something unpredictable happened. NOBODY expected that a few years later the Yankees would sign a ONE BILLION DOLLAR local TV deal with the YES network. The few teams that compete with the Yankees are doing so largely using borrowed funds. There haven't been too many teams over the last 5 years that have even made the playoffs ONCE, let alone making it a HABIT. To ask him to have a $100M payroll in Houston is insane! We simply don't have the market to justify that expenditure. Really easy to villify the guy when you haven't tried to do his job.

I'll agree with you that Berkman is WAY out of position (which could be solved by getting Randy Winn), and that Hidalgo and Ward are busts. But on other counts, you are blaming the wrong guys. Blum has been a nice surprise offensively and has given us sturdy defense at the hot corner. He hasn't lost us any games. As for a competitor getting a CF without giving up much, there's areason why they didn't give up much. The guy is WELL on the downside of his career. I wouldn't trade for him. No way.

This is a mid market team in a large market world. THAT is why the owners are battling the union right now. Believe me, if it were economically feasible he'd be dealing like crazy. The first thing he did when he bought the team was to spend gobs of cash to bring in 2 pitchers who had been premier players (Swindell and Drabek). That ended up poorly for him. He wants to win...but not break the bank in the process. That's called reasonable business.

 

So Drayton got burned with Swindell and Drabek, ok.

Drayton is a lying snake oil salesman. When Bud Adams stated that the Astrodome was no longer state-of-the-art and was unfit for a professional team, Drayton jumped and proclaimed the eighth wonder of the world as it was known. A couple of months later Drayton holds the city hostage by saying build it, or I'll sell the team to investors in North Virginia.

Before the stadium was built, Drayton stated that the payroll would jump significantly higher (not Yankee proportion) but higher than the $55 million payroll before. As soon as the stadium opens, Drayton plays the violin saying that the money that would have gone to the payroll was already used to sustain the team through its NL Central championship years. Why is it Drayton always goes back on his words? The guy is no better than Bud Selig. Tell me how in the world with a new stadium, getting all of the parking, concessions, merchandising, radio contract, television contracts, etc. that McLane is losing money. Why is it that everyone says he's a great owner. I'm not asking him to load up like the Yanks and spend $115 million dollars a year on payroll, but uping it to the $70-$85 million dollar range the Astros could field a damn good team, I mean imagine what Hunsicker could do with that kind of money. Truthfully if I was Hunsicker I would leave to another team with an owner that doesn't hold his purse strings tightly. Drayton is spinning his wheels, he talks about fielding a championship team, and complains about losing money and not having fan support.

Well Drayton has a business, and he knows that you have to spend money to make money, its very simple: A) Up the payroll and spend it wisely on players that can get you to the next level. B) The team starts to win more, or is at least in the running and is consistent. C) People start to take notice that there team is in the news, and is consistently talked about as a contender. D) People will come out to the ballpark (thus more money) E) Winning teams get contracts for television (not Yankee proportions, but they get contracts nonetheless). F) Drayton gets more money, he's happy, the fans get a competitive team, not some shoe-string team relying on a rookie or rookies to come up big during the season.

The Astros are like a machine that you know is eventually gonna break down, you hope its gonna get the job done, and it you know it can only get you so far, but you know that it won't get the job done, whereas you have the Cardinals who are bettering themselves. The Astros still sit there spinning there wheels, and Drayton continues to cry poor, and yet he is making gobs of cash off the fans, the city, and his team. I'm tired of the lies, I'm tired of the same first-round-and-out BS. I really hope Drayton sells the team, and we are fortunate to get an owner in the mold of Les Alexander or Bob McNair, two class owners who want to win, and aren't afraid to spend the money to put a competitive team on the court and field.

Its all a moot point anyway, the strike is coming and even if it wasn't cheap-ass McLane has told Hunsicker that no moves will be made, hell he can't even sign the draft picks from the draft three months ago. Its over, the Cardinals have this division wrapped up, and there is no move the Astros can or will make to make a run, thus having an owner who revels in mediocrity.

 

Plus Rolen has been co-signing cards with the likes of Alex rodriquez and Derek Jeter. Damn.

 

My question is why was Cleveland able to compete for so long and why has Colorado and Seattle been willing to spend more money?

Don't get me wrong, our success through the 90's has been almost parallel to Clevelands, and neither Colorado nor Seattle are the Yankees, but all 3 teams have/had higher payrolls in smaller markets. I don't get it.