I'm thankful that we have such great debates in here... w/out you guys, we'd just be "another ho-hum team". What do the Reds fans argue about? What about Diamondback fans? They've both seem to make "efforts" to make their teams better, and they really aren't all that great. How about the Phillies... if you were a fan of them, would you really think there'd be a viable shot at the playoffs with such a stud division, where they might not even be as good as the Mets of all teams. I know it shouldn't matter what goes on in other cities or other teams, but I guess I'm thankful that even in times where it seems like this team shouldn't contend... there is still a ton of hope, a ton of debate, and passion that has been developed because of this team's recent PAST. (you can live in a "what have you done for me lately" world NJ... but if the Astros had sucked the last 6 years, there's a good chance you're not going to be buying season tickets for them, posting passionate posts on this board, or even mustering the strength to criticize them). Now, for the daily Astros fan affirmation (reasons to stay positive so far this season): 1. Oswalt, Pettite, Clemens, Backe - do you guys realize that at no point last year (even the beginning of the season, since Pettite was injured so early) did we have a starting 4 that has put together this many consecutive quality starts? The pitching which was supposed to carry us to the WS last year before we had even hit April is better than it ever was. 2. Jason Lane - He's aggressive with anything in the zone, he's hit to all fields, and he's been the one hitter who hasn't really looked bad at any time this year. A Berkman-Lane combo could rule this team's power for awhile. 3. Lights out Lidge - He could have stumbled out of the gate like some other closers, but he's looked just as dominant as he was to end the playoffs. No earned runs yet. 4. one run games - Don't discount the ability of this team to be competitive in all the games this year. Even though they've come on the short end of most of them, that doesn't breed the losers mentality that some of the other teams who just came off a 1-5 road trip may have. They know they SHOULD have won all 3 games in NY, and 2 out of 3 in Cincy. 5. Nobody has run away with this division yet - I still remember 2000, when it seemed like the Cardinals had already won the division by the second week of the season. People were telling me to give it time, its a long season, the Astros are the defending division champs and they'll start playing great in Enron soon, blah blah blah. Alas, St. Louis ran away with the division, and the Astros had one of their worst year's ever. You're not seeing any of that so far... so there's still plenty of chances and plenty of hope.
rocketman95.. I agree that Drayton has overall been a good owner. Just like you don't the perception that he has been a bad owner, I don't like the perception that he has done us all a big favor. My point is, he is a smart businessman.. just like other smart businessmen. smart businessmen don't usually buy things that they know will lose them cash.
When I'm watching the games. I cheer like no one else. I like that Houston fans push the owner to make sure he stays on top of things. Houston fans pushing for Roger signing and resigning I think helped. I think teams benefit most from fans who demand the very best. If the fans are tough on the owner, he knows he has to perform at his very best to ensure the fans keep coming back.
Once again, all the Drayton bashers, name an owner who has had a better more consistent run of success, not named Steinbrenner. Or name one who is immune to criticisms of not re-signing players to save money, caring a lot about the bottom line, etc. If you're not a Yankees fan, and you're stil a MLB fan, there's a good chance that you would be complaining no matter what team you were rooting for. We see it because we're in Houston, but you'd also see it in St. Louis, Chicago, Phoenix, Anaheim, Seattle, Dallas, San Francisco, and the rest of the "mid"-market teams. btw... "mid" market just basically means "not Yankees or Red Sox" now... that's about it.
Of course, my perception isn't perception. Look back at this thread where people are calling him a liar and what not. I don't see anyone saying he's done us a big favor or anything.
rocketman95. I certainly have never called him a liar. Maybe he did lose money for years, but I do think that value of the team etc should be looked at in response to statements like nick made about the fact that none of his net worth has to do with the team.
Top Payrolls and W/L Records So Far: 1. Yankees: 4-8 2. Red Sox: 7-5 3. Mets: 6-6 4. Phillies: 6-6 5. Angels: 6-6 6. Cardinals: 6-4 7. Giants: 6-5 8. Cubs: 6-6 9. Mariners: 6-6 10. Braves: 6-6 11. Dodgers: 9-2 12. Astros: 5-6 2/3 of the top 12 payroll teams are .500 or less. Please stop whining.
Owners get too much credit for Ws, and too much blame for Ls. The most important thing an owner can do is give his GM a budget that allows him enough flexibility to stay competitive, and then get out of the way. My only complaint about Drayton is his self-aggrandizing manner of interjecting himself into certain contract negotiations, like Steinbrenner. He does a good job otherwise. He's involved himself in the process much more than typical owners do.
Most of the people saying things about the roster are not basing it on two weeks. They are just repeating what they said all summer. I have said all along, that I think in the end we may be able to contend for a playoff spot, but I do think we lost a lot more than we gained during the offseason.
I know you haven't, but people have. In this thread someone has called him a snake. I haven't seen anyone say that McLane's done us a huge favor by being our owner. The closest has been saying he's been better than any other owner the Astros have ever had in our lifetime, which is true.
all while most of last years teams we competed with for the playoffs gained more than they lost (except perhaps the Cubs)
Let me clarify that... I was refuting the opinion that since Drayton is the "richest owner in baseball" he should be spending much more than he is, and should be a big player. I was merely saying that Drayton's vast "richness" over other owners is not due to baseball. If you only look at baseball "wealth" its George Steinbrenner, and then everybody else... George doesn't pay one cent of his own personal wealth on his team... its all based on revenues from his TV deal and attendance.
nick.. no problem with that statement... My personal viewpoint is that an owner can't be expected to spend money from other businesses he owns etc.. So it all comes down to how much he makes from the actual baseball team.. and side dealing that have to do with it.. For instance, some teams buy their own tv stations.. and although the money isn't directly from the baseball team.. its from a tv station that is only there because of the baseball team.. some times big money is made by other businesses that are profitable because they own the baseball team. i dont think this is true in our case since he doesn't own a tv station etc though.
dont be sarcastic....i am merely pointing out that of all the playoff-race teams, we gained the least, or lost the most (or both in some cases)...you have to be blind not to see the position we are in. the offense will get better when berkman comes back...i recognize that...but i said from day 1 that what transpired this offseason (or didnt transpire) will cause us to struggle big time to make the playoffs..and i havent seen anything other than the good pitching (which i knew we had when i made the assessment) to make me think differently That being said.....hopefully we sweep the short series with Atlanta and get back some confidence
Heed your own advice Mr. Plan B Man. I understand the situation we're in. I just prefer to be optimistic about things. If every season went the way everyone thought they would, they wouldn't play the games. It just gets so annoying to come in here everyday and see all you gloom and doomers whining about the same thing every single day. It's tiring and sad.
I don't have a problem with Drayton's overall budgett. I have a problem with some of his individual decisions that are based more on sentimentality than the best baseball decisions. There is no reason not to excercise the option on Kent's contract other than to insure Biggio's regularity in the lineup. Even if he was trying to save money to sign Beltran it doesn't make sense. It was one more year.
Kent's option was one more year at $9,000,000 vs. $700,000 buyout. That's not an option you immediately snap up. They declined the option and attempted to resign him for a lesser amount. The Dodgers stepped up with a $7,000,000+ offer and trumped any thoughts of Kent resigning. It makes a lot of sense with respect to saving money for a run at Beltran. Essentially it enabled them to offer Beltran an additional $1,000,000+ per year over the terms of a 7 year deal.
Not to mention that the guy who's currently playing Kent's spot isn't exactly sucking it up. For about $4 million less per year. Loyalty or not, that's not bad. Kent's stats are currently better, but not $4 million a year better. Of course, if we resigned Kent, Biggio would probably be in LF, but then people would just complain about what a crappy OFer he is.
