Does Drayton McLane have the know-how to build a championship team?

All I know is this: If the Astros are forced to lose Oswalt in his prime because McLane will not pay him what he is worth like they did to Mike Hampton, I will burn all of my Astros periphenelia (sp?)...which consists of a fitted hat.

We will see what McLane is made of when it is time to pony up long term to Oswalt. This guy is going to be a legend. His demeanor does not hurt him either. His intense facial movements on the mound are awesome.

It is one thing to lose hitters like Seattle did with Griffey and A-rod but they still had pitching, which is the most important part of baseball. As a result, the Mariners are still a good team.

Finally, when McLane did not sign Hampton, it seemed to tell the public that winning a championship wasn't important to Mclane. Well Drayton, you have one more chance with Oswalt to show Astros fans that you do desire to build a champion. Don't let us down.

Or my hat will be a pile of ashes.

 

It could be that McLane was informed of the stockpile of young pitchers we had coming up, and wanted to save his money for them instead of Hampton.

Just a guess.

 

You do recall that Hampton decided he would not negotiate with Houston and wanted to investigate free agency don't you? Because of that, the Astros decided they could not risk losing Hampton via free agency and getting nothing in return as they did with Randy Johnson(besides, they were afraid their "fans" might burn their hats).

The Astros received a pretty fair pitcher named Dotel in that trade. They also received Roger Cedeno which allowed them to trade for a gold glove catcher. They also forced the Mets to take Derek 'Operation Shutdown' Bell off their hands in that trade.

The Mets offered Hampton a boatload of money to sign with them but he refused. Rather than negotiate with a couple of contenders (Astros, Mets), Hampton went with that perennial playoff contender, Colorado.

You seem to imply that the Astros are not a "good team" (based on your Seattle comparison). You do realize that in the past 5 years the Astros have won more divisional titles than any other major sports team in Houston history? You do realize that it has been a lack of HITTING in the playoffs which has hurt Houston?

When you're ready to burn that hat, let me know, I'll send you the matches.

 

As long as the New York Yankees keep pushing for every single all-star and progressing towards the $200 million mark, baseball will continue to suck. The Astros are a well run team. No middle market team will win the big one until there is a cap put in place. The Arizona Diamondbacks are pushing $100 million but for how much longer. We heard about the trouble this team was in financially a couple of years ago. Letting Alou go was for the better. Sure I love the guy (I hate that he is in our division), but he has been holding back another talent...Daryll Ward. Overall you should be very pleased with the new guys in the lineup. I do believe this is our year and make my prediction known now 'Stros vs. Yanks for the Series.

 

All I know is this: If the Astros are forced to lose Oswalt in his prime because McLane will not pay him what he is worth like they did to Mike Hampton, I will burn all of my Astros periphenelia (sp?)...which consists of a fitted hat.

We will see what McLane is made of when it is time to pony up long term to Oswalt. This guy is going to be a legend. His demeanor does not hurt him either. His intense facial movements on the mound are awesome.

Every good life-long Astro that's wanted to stay has pretty much been resigned. Hampton and Kile didn't want to stay. In the last few years Drayton ponied up for Bagwell, Biggio, Lima, Reynolds, Wagner, and Hidalgo.

 

K/BB ratio is the #1 predictor of future success for rookie pitchers. Oswalt's was among the best ever. Hypothetically, if he improves, he should be one of the top 10 pitchers ever. I don't really think that'll happen... simply because I want to be cautious.

But what if it does? he'd cost A-rod type dollars to resign. Would he still be worth it for a mid-market team? I'm not so sure. There is a point when it's best to make the Mariner's decision and invest elsewhere.

Of course, a pitcher like that could also turn a mid-market team into a large market team.