Is this lowest point for any franchise in H town? I have only probably been following Houston sports for 20 years, but wow. This franchise not only is going to lose 100+ games but it looks like it has no direction for the future. The roy oswalt deal looks bad. The bourn deal is bad. The pence deal looks ok. Maybe the oilers moving?
Oswalt deal looks better than the Berkman deal in terms of potential future players... mainly Villar > than Paredes or Melancon. Pence deal looks pretty good. Bourn deal is meh... but again, this organization needs more young power arms, and they got some in that deal. The direction is simply to get younger and cheaper... I have nothing against that because this team was boring to watch when they were spending 100+ million and lingering around .500, they were boring when they were spending 90+ million and were 10 games under .500, and this year they're god-awful... but a tad more exciting with the young talent coming up.
I probably felt worse about the Astros before we dealt Oswalt and Berkman.....cause at that point I felt like we were going to be trapped in an endless Drayton "Stay sort of competitive with aging vets, plug in more Bill Hall types to fill in the gaps, don't sign draft choices and CERTAINLY don't go over slot." cycle of mediocrity. At least now it's clear, we are bad, we are rebuilding. We are going to stink to the rafters for a while, but we are trying to restock the farm. As far as the worst teams in Houston history the Biles/Studley Oilers could have probably lost 100 games if they had played 110. As it is they were merely 2-14.
The odd part of "recognizable players the fans can get behind" approach the past few years is its made me the most APATHETIC I've been toward the Astros in a while. All the sabermetrics and big spending aside its about 2 things as a fan; if you have players that are studs, and if there are players who WILL be studs in waiting. Even as a casual fan you can kinda sense if you're stocked up or if the cupboard is bare. There just hasnt been enough "stick around" element to them. Now even if its false hopes they're adding a little of that back into it. But yes its signifies a low point, the lowest of the past 30 years.
I chose no/please elaborate. Strictly speaking on wins and losses, this will no doubt be the low point for the Astros franchise. In terms of the direction of the franchise, I think the low point was some point either last season or the season before when it was clear that the Astros were a bad, boring baseball team with a bloated payroll. There was nothing worse than seeing guys like Pudge, Pedro Feliz, Russ Ortiz, Brandon Lyon and the like brought on simply so that the team might feign competitiveness for a month or two of the season. At least now the franchise has some direction and is pointed in the right direction. A complete rebuild was needed and we're getting it now. We can all argue until the cows come home about whether or not Wade went about the rebuild correctly, but I don't think there is any argument that something like this was needed.
How much worse can it get; Astros probably have the worst GM in sports. Ever since he left the Phils they have been contenders.
It's pretty bad but at least we have a nice ballpark to see a game. We were terrible in the early 90's and there was noooobody at the games back then. We can still go have a fun night at the park these days.
In all fairness, Ed Wade had a great deal of responsibility in building the Phillies championship team. Burrell, Howard, Utley, Hamels, etc. I feel that he is a decent GM, but, for some reason or the other, still has a hard-on for the Phillies. And he is also responsible for giving away the Astros talents and helping to improve the Phillies even more :grin:
I wonder if they will be saying the same thing about him if (when) this team turns it around and they wonder who was responsible for obtaining Singleton, Villar, Paredes, Melancon, Cosart, and Clemens.
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Doesnt really bother me, I dont think I have even watched an astros game in 3 years. They are the least important team in the city to me. Their lack of success doesnt kill me like the Rockets struggles do or even the texans to a lesser extent. Hell, Ill take the Dynamo over the astros. But they do have by far the best stadium in town, which is their high point atm I suppose
It probably can't get any lower in terms of wins and losses. But I disagree that this team has no direction. They finally realized to shed anything of value and get younger and build for the future. And from what I've read about Crane, he seems to know baseball, having been a player himself, and I think he'll surround himself with people who know what they are doing. We'll get some fresh faces both on the field and in the front office, and that's a definite positive step in the right direction.
After trading Moses Malone the rockets went 14-68 in 1983, but the NBA draft presents potential saviors every year. They landed back to back 1st overall picks and were in the finals 4 years later. Baseball is an organizational sport, and there are no quick turnarounds, so I astually think we were worse off when Drayton had us stuck in neutral for 5 years, at least we have direction now. The title of lowest point goes to the oilers 1970 3-10-1 1971 4-9-1 1972 1-13 1973 1-13 But if this team ends up historically bad, which is possible we might have a new low point. As is 110 losses is a possibility.
I have said because in the 26 years I have been living and following the Astros they have never been this bad. I know they might be going in the right direction but losing 100+ games sucks. I don't find them entertaining at all, losing is depressing. Just seeing how our team could be if we kept a majority of our stars like Pence, Bourn, Berkman, Oswalt, it could actually still be a decent team. I am very worried we will turn into the Pirates if we haven't already. I don't have the patience to wait four years and a wait and see approach. I guess the Biggio-Bagwell days spoiled me.
That's the problem right here. We got those guys for a #1 starter and three all star outfielders. That's it. None of those guys have proven much except Melancon, a reliever. The haul for the amount of talent given up has been pathetic.
I say yes, this is the low point for the Astros, because that was the name of the thread and not whether it was the low point for Houston sports. I can't imagine it will get much worse unless, like was already mentioned, we turn into the Pirates. If that happens, I might decide to take a break and focus on the Rockets and Texans. There are only so many weak grounders to shortstop and popflies to 2b that I can stand. Losing isn't fun for anyone and I hope they turn it around soon. I am hopeful that the young talent pans out, but I have zero faith in Wade. I hope I'm proven wrong, because it would make me happy.
Rebuilding is always a dirty word. Especially in trades, the pundits always criticize the rebuilding team for trading away their veterans. I love the astros moves and I'm glad they made them. I could see shaefer putting it together and he alone could make these trades worthwhile. This guy has enormous talent.