I follow the guy on Twitter, pretty inspirational stuff plus he was pretty good in Shallow Hal. Hope its Wedge...Whats your take Brooks, did he get a raw deal with the Tribe?
I've never been a big fan of his. He always struck me as anxious and on edge, as if he couldn't handle the pressure. I wouldn't be totally against it but there are probably better options out there.
The Astros' offseason is officially under way and general manager Ed Wade is putting together his list of managerial candidates to replace the fired Cecil Cooper. Wade's comments to the Houston Chronicle indicate he is in no rush to make a move. "We're not moving at a snail's pace, but we're trying to do it as efficiently as we can," Wade said. The Chronicle adds that interim skipper Dave Clark will return to home in Memphis, then wait for the Astros to call him in for his interview.
It's hard for me to get excited about a new skipper when Wade, Smith and Uncle Drayton are still calling the shots.
Eh there is no question that Cecil was somewhat of a problem although not the biggest one we have. I have no doubt that a new manager in that club house will at least have somewhat of a positive outcome,but how much i'm not sure of.
Oh, don't get me wrong - I agree with you that Coop was a part of the problem...I just think that he was that: "part" of the problem. I'm not going to whine about it too much, since we all know that Wade & Smith aren't going anywhere, so my big hope for the new Skipper is that they are a forceful enough personality to stand up to the brass if it makes the team better.
Raw deal might seem like a reach. Scapegoat? perhaps. fans (myself) were dissapointed. Something had to be done. Fausto Carmona, Asdrubal Cabrera were major, major letdowns and not entirely the fault of Wedge. Then the midseason firesale. The only player I wasn't really upset about losing was Cliff Lee. I wish the Indians had picked up Kyle Drabek, but for a first time 20 game winner....I think the tribe got a pretty good bargin for a (seemingly overrated) Lee. Wedge has brass. He sorta reminds me of a younger Scrap Iron, kinda robot-ish, and ???? at times but, over all, pretty solid. But, as others have mentioned, regardless of who the Astros select.... due to the talent level and the Mclain/Tal pilots...The new Astros skipper is going to be in for some turbulence.
I'm a bit confused why everyone thinks we are doomed for the impending future. We have some great things happening that people don't seem to look at -We have been signing our draft picks in the past few years and have had higher picks with our recent departure as a contenders.With all these incoming draft picks our minor league system will soon be loaded. -We live in the 4th largest city in America and are capable of maintaining a payroll of 90 to 100 million dollars.A payroll that high should allow a team to contend even with a weak farm system. -We have legit players in Berkman/Lee/Oswalt who are nearing their mid 30's but are still capable of putting up at least a couple more productive years before they become free agents and free up payroll room and allow our young prospects to take over. -We are not that far off from being a contender again with a farm system coming along,the help of a decent payroll,and who knows one more decent starting pitcher such as John Lackey or Jon Garland we could easily be a wild card team.
Excellent outlook and I think you're on to good points. I would say that we aren't that close to being a contender as our main prospects are still about 2 yrs away and our veterns are showing signs of decline. There are two many variables involved to say they will be a strong team again. So signing Lackey would be a nice aquisition to pair with Wandy and Roy along with Bud so that alone could keep us in contention. The issue is to what lengths will Uncle D/Tal/Wade go to build a contender and what will they sacrifice? I really think this will be the most important season in recent memory because we will finally see the direction this club will take from here on out along with the upcoming draft.
1. True, we have been signing our picks but in reality their presence just brings our system back to average. We still don't have any surefire top 10 prospects. Most systems have the type of prospects we have at the lower levels. 2. "Should" is a key word. 90 to 100 mil seems like a lot until you realize that about half of that is tied up in 3-4 players. Not to be a Debbie Downer but the rebuilding of the Astros will take a pretty long time.
My "depressed" comment was in response to the fact that I still think that we messed up running Gerry out of town! I was describing what I thought we needed, and Landlord Landry pointed out that we had it - hence the depression. Don't worry, man - I do think that we have hope in this lovable franchise of ours!
The general feeling is that Drayton McLane talks about being a champion all the time and feels that signing guys like Ortiz and Hampton are going to get us back to the World Series. You can't cheap out on pitching. Hiring Bobby Heck in my mind is still the best move that Ed Wade has made to date (trading for Bourn is a close second). The past two drafts the Astros have made it a priority to sign their picks, but a question that comes up is whether they are drafting players more for signability or talent. This past draft the Astros spent in the lower 1/3rd of teams in the draft, IMO thats not a good sign for a team whose farm system ranks near last. I am still confident that the players they have drafted will be in the majors within the next few seasons. The size of Houston isn't a good indicator of how high the payroll should be, its the size of the television market (where Houston ranks 10th or 11th). You are correct that with a $90 -$100 million dollar payroll the Astros should be able to contend. What makes that difficult is paying $60 million of that $100 million to four players, which two underperformed this past season. Typically teams can trade high priced players to contending teams for prospects, however the Astros gave out no-trade clauses, which eliminates the possibility of moving any of those players. I believe Oswalt and Berkman still have some juice left in them to play near All-Star level. Lee needs to hustle more IMO, but he does what he is supposed to and thats hit the ball. The farm system is still not ready to produce an everyday player yet, the closest is Jason Castro and he may not get called up to the big leagues until after the second month of the season depending on how well he does in AA/AAA. If Oswalt can stay healthy, Wandy can duplicate last season, Norris and Paulino work out as the fourth and fifth pitchers in the rotation, then yes acquiring a #3 starter will go a long way in helping the Astros contend, but thats a lot of ifs. I'm hoping the Astros make the most of the offseason and the draft next year to get this team back in position to win the central and contend for World Series.
Ill be happy with a Dave Duncan, Bobby Valentin or even Eric Wedge. But the Astros really need to develop their players like the old days and get back to that. Its ridiculous how our payroll is right now and the performance we have put out there. Pitchers like Ortiz and Hampton are not going to get us back to the WS, we need to spend our money wisely and not be too cheap.
