Because he has $416 Million worth of capital tied up in the Astros. Do you mean to tell me that if you bought a business you didn't know anything about, you would just "sit back and collect paychecks"? I don't know yet. The farm doesn't look good, and the pitching staff needs some work. But at the major league level, the Astros are pretty much set (or at least close) at position players for a while. Heck, one stud starting pitcher, and the Astros might be competing again next year.
RIET - in all seriousness...trying to make the argument that Les has been a better owner than McLane is laughable. you keep citing to championships won 12-13 years ago. you're ignoring the decade since then. the rockets have absolutely been mis-managed. in a league where more teams make the playoffs than don't, the rockets haven't won a playoff series in a full decade. that's pitiful for any franchise... but particularly so considering how competitive this team was in the decade BEFORE les took over. and while you cite to these championships 12-13 years ago, you overlook the NL pennant won just 2 seasons ago. you overlook how difficult it is to even make the playoffs in baseball as compared to the NBA.
Agreed! I'll see you're "almost set" and raise you a Chris Burke, a retired (or should be retired) Brad Ausmus, a Ty Wigginton, a Luke Scott, 3/5 of a starting rotation, and half a bullpen. Some of those are medium-to-large question marks and some of those are bench players. OH, and we're likely to lose Lamb and Loretta this offseason. The Astros are a bad ballclub that need a lot of work.
avg wins for Astros 91-07 83 for Seattle 80 considering all other varibles including the stupid hometown signings of clemens for three years I would say seattle has held their own
Excellent post. His argument has been both summarily decimated and dismantled point-by-point, but he'll come back with more drivel. Let's all just move on.
that should be 06 1991 - 2006 average wins, the reason I put those years is because that's the time period msn referenced
Not as wide as I expected, but note that Seattle is under .500. Hardly "holding their own". And that includes a 121 win season! Stupid?? 22 freaking million dollars, what kind of "hometown" signing is that?? He went out and got one of the greatest pitchers of all time, and for two years paid an all-time premium for him, and you're penalizing that because the guys happens to live in Katy. That is stupid. Seattle is the closest MLB market to Japan. Let's criticize Seattle for signing Ichiro. Just stupid.
Chris Burke will get a shot at the 2B spot next year. Odds are, Lamb or Twiggy or both will be the 3B next year. That really only leaves catcher as an issue among position players. And if JR Towles is the long-term answer, it would be better to just sign a stop-gap guy that he can back-up for a couple of years. The rotation needs work, but you can plug in Roy, Backe, Wandy, and Woody (one year left) for four spots. So really, the biggest offseason moves are a catcher and a really good starter for the 2nd spot. I know it's not built for the long haul, but that team could be good next year.
But that team just isn't very good. I don't think Burke will be good offensively at 2B, and we already have Everett in the lineup with all defense and no pop. Twiggy and Lamb might be a productive platoon, or it might be another irritating situation like this year--where we often don't get much from 3B and everybody's always whining about why the other one didn't start. Will the stop-gap catcher excel defensively? Will he hit at all? Backe is a huge question mark in the rotation. Wandy is a huge question mark. Woody isn't--we can pencil him in for 15 losses and a 5+ ERA. It's a bad team, IMO.
I'm not criticizing, i'm saying he's had some advantages, including biggio and bagwell staying for less while seattle had to get rid of its stars who didn't want to be there. houston has an inherent advantage, larger market, no state income taxes, and I would guess more players are from the south than northwest or japan yes three games isn't that much difference, so the fact that houston is only 2 games above .500 isn't much more to brag about. seattle never won 121 games japan and seattle aren't that close
You really can't compare a baseball owner and a basketball owner. Drayton and Les have both made their mistakes. Drayton hired Tim Purpura, and Les chose Pepsi to be the soda vendor for Toyota Center...c'mon, PEPSI?!
i've never labeled mclane flawless - few owners (and for that matter, GMs, coaches and players) are. he's made mistakes; he'll make mistakes. but thus far, his 14 years have coincided with the franchise's best 14 years. it's more than a coincidence. jayson stark is not on the astros' payroll; he does not sit in on team meetings, he is not granted unlimited access behind the scenes... hell, he doesn't even live in houston or follow the team exclusively. his "information" comes from sources. and you're being naive if you believe those sources are always unbiased and fair and don't have their own agenda. especially when stark concludes his piece by lobbing "wonderful human beings" softballs at garner and purpura. do you believe other franchises only fire people who are miserable and deserve it? it tips stark's hand for him to include such a non-sequiter. hunsicker has nothing to do with mclane or any other owner in houston, but yes, i do find it rather dubious that the "revered" gerry huniscker is working for the tampa bay devil rays, having worked his way there via new york and then houston. i'm sure tolling for a prepetually moribound franchise is EXACTLY the career he wanted for himself. i'm sure it's a cush job in a geographically-pleasing area with family nearby, etc., but do you really think he'd turn down a high-profile gig? i don't "hate" bob mcnair, and you're dipping into the naive pool again if think mcnair isn't overseeing and approving every move the texans make. btw, to answer your question: they're in their 6th year. now here's a question for you: care to guess how long it took the last 5 expansion teams to post a winning record (hint: it was less than 6 years in each case). curious, considering: "Id much rather have [McNair] than Jerry Jones who thinks he's a football genius." so which is it, RIET? jones brought three championships to irving. i'll say this: as an owner, les alexander has impeccable timing. so, too, does dryaton mclane - after all, they both inherited local legends. mclane's, btw, will finish their careers here; how did that work out with olajuwon and alexander? and that's just one of the reasons alexander's franchise is an afterthought in this city, well behind the texans and, yes, astros and battling a soccer team for third place. but you're going to excuse or even more egregiously praise him? frankly, i think it's a stupid, loaded question. i think an owner should be judged by the results his team has on and off the field and you simply can't deny where this franchise was when drayton mclane purchased it and where it is now. they were drawing less than 2 million fans in 1992, going to the playoffs twice in 31 years and a third-class citizen in an apathetic baseball city. now the astros are drawing north of 3 million fans, they've gone to the playoffs 6 times since 1993, and they're relevant among the city's sports fans.
116... seattle has a pipeline to asian players. ichiro made it very clear, he wouldn't be signing anywhere NOT on the west coast. other asian players have said the same.
the answer, of course, is to trade for jason jennings! or, sorry - just saw a calendar: it's 2007, not 2006... the more things change, huh?
this is it in a nutshell. before mclane, the astros were largely an after-thought here. if they weren't in the playoffs, very few cared...and even then it seemed like just more than very few cared. there was little carry-over. they are LIGHT YEARS healtheir now as an organization. the city is far more of a baseball town than it was before him. they're so much improved on the field...and at the gate...and under his watch, they won best organization in baseball....that's unimaginable in the years before he was the owner. there is no owner that's done MORE with what he inherited in this city's history than drayton mclane. i'm not sure that's remotely arguable.
they're both from the northeast; them staying here... - i can't believe i have to explain this - is a credit, not demerit, to mclane for creating an atmosphere they wanted to stay in and for giving them enough money to do so. i'm staggered that anyone would recast mclane keeping bagwell and biggio for 15 and 20 years as anything other than ridiculously awesome and positive. the oilers didn't keep earl campbell. or warren moon. or ray childress. hakeem olajuwon wound up in toronto... but **** you, drayton, for keeping two of the city's best atheletes here for two decades, you sorry piece of crap! why can't you run your franchise more like the mariners?!!! unreal......
Neither stayed here for less. Look at their contracts. Bagwell's was enormous. Biggio's were large as well, especially the last few years when no one else wanted him I'm not trying to get involved in your Seattle vs. Houston debate, but just pointing out that those guys definitely didn't give us hometown discounts (Especially Bagwell)
When Bagwell signed his contract in 2000, he was the third highest paid player in the league. I don't think that counts as "staying for less".
again, i never criticized mclane for bagwell and biggio staying for less money and I know where they're from, thanks for the geography lesson though, I was referencing clemens in particular and I made that clear in another post.
