Astros seem to have a team salary not representative of the 3 million fannies that we fans are putting in the "juice box". Drayton needs to step up again and get a couple of stud pitchers for next year. Fanbase should be able to support a $120 mil payroll Sabathia, Halliday, Haren, Dempster should each cost about $16-17 mill/year for 6 years. Why can't we compete for those guys if we have the money and the fans are supporting the club? We got zip in the minors for at least a few years so let's REWARD THE FANS!
Halladay is under contract through 2010. Haren through 2012. The Astros could offer Sabathia 6 years at $20,000,000 per year and you know the Yankees would top it.
Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman make $15 million a year (which was the going rate for top players when they re-signed). Carlos Lee makes $17 million a year. Miguel Tejada is making a decent amount of money this year. At some point, you have to start developing from within... if anything, the Yankees have shown that simply buying a bunch of high-priced free agents guarantees nothing. Meanwhile, the Devil Rays are wiping the floor with the league...
And we'll keep having zip in the minors if we keep acquiring Class A type free agents and losing our first round picks. The way to build a winning franchise is to first hire top level talent evaluation personnel. That goes from the GM to the lowest scout. There's no way to rush this process; ask the Yankees. When you get a good, I mean really good, wave of prospects coming up, THAT'S when you splurge for free agents that can supplement your budding young stars. Look at Milwaukee, Arizona, and Tampa Bay this year. Since 2005 I stopped following the Astros precisely because they have yet to realize this. And because they have engendered a whole new generation of Astros fans who are equally numb-skulled in their comprehension of what we need to do to win.
Yeah, but those last TWENTY-SIX years, it's been tough to watch the Brewers and their 2 second place finishes and no playoff appearances. That's a long rebuilding process. And how about those Rays? It's great to see them probably make the playoffs and they will shatter their previous high for wins (70). It only took 11 years for them to win 71+ games.
Maybe I'm the only one that thinks this way, but signing a pitcher to a contract longer than three years is a bad idea. I'm having a hard time jumping on the "let's sign Ben Sheets" bandwagon.
The problem, quite simply, is that the team does not have the money. Berkman signed an escalating deal, IIRC. That means he will make more money last year than he did this year. Forbes magazine states that in 2007, the Astros had operating income (before taxes, etc) of $18.7M. You add one $20M a year pitcher, and the club LOSES MONEY. Do you want a team that is losing money? I don't. At some point you have to pay the piper. I lived through this team operating out of receivership once before. I really don't want to do it again.
That is why the Astros miss Gerry Hunsicker. Hunsicker was able to find hidden gems and players that were able to contribute for a bargain salary. As for Drayton losing money, I've never believed that notion and never will. There is no way that Drayton would have taken such a loss over the time that he has owned the team. The most ridiculous thing I've heard him say was that the Astros made a profit for the first time since he's owned the team when they made the World Series. But thats neither here nor there. The Astros should not throw money at Sabathia, Sheets, etc. because they are more than one piece away. IMO the Astros should see if they can get John Garland for less money than they could Sheets. Take a flyer on Rocco Baldelli and see if he can man CF and be the leadoff hitter we need. Give the young players in the minors we do have a chance at the big league club. Spacemoth is right, you want to hire the best player personnel and talent evaluators to make your farm system strong. The Astros made a great move in hiring Bobby Heck as head of their scouting department. IMO the Astros had a good draft and they need to continue that trend for the next couple of years to get the farm system back to churning out MLB-ready players.
This seems as appropriate as any place to put this: On August 24, 2007...the Houston Astros were 15 games under .500. On August 24, 2008...the Houston Astros are 2 games over .500. We're not WS bound...or even playoff bound. But this team is a significantly better than last year's version.
Wade cashed in all of his chips to make the improvement between last year and this. The prospects the Astros have dealt over the past couple of years were certainly not Grade A, but giving them up to assemble a .500 team was foolish and unfortunately the outcome was pretty easy to predict.
I forgot to comment on this. Not quite clear on exactly when you stopped following the Astros, but it was either IN 2005 - the year they got to the World Series or immediately after 2005, the year they got to the World Series. That's a really odd time to quit following a team.
Where do you think they would be with those AAAA players. Luke Scott has had a nice season. He's about the only one I could say I'm remotely disappointed in losing. No pitcher should be signed for more than 4 years. I would love to see the Astros make a serious run at Sheets or Sabathia. They should not, however, risk the future by giving these guys 6 year deals.
That's so true it's SICK.... how do we compete for pitchers when pitchers are at a all-time premium right now?
Thanks for this post. So many "fans" seem to think that we are worse than we were last year. With zero pitching, they are over .500. That is amazing. Really amazing.
