I can't, I just can't...I want to because I know its best for the squad/organization but just love this team to much to root for a loss.
While I can't speak for Bal or Pit, I know that the Indians have infinitely more young talent in their system. They project to be a very good team in the next couple of years. There is no organization in baseball that is in worse shape than the Astros in terms of talent in the system, even after the last 3 drafts. We weren't the only team drafting and signing players over the past 3 years. Considering where our farm was before that period, we would have had to do significantly better than the organizations ranked ahead of us and there is no telling yet whether or not that's the case. This organziations is in really bad shape and the past 3 drafts are merely a step in the right direction. It could be years and years before we even sniff the playoffs again.
Hell after tonight I may just cut that list down to just Baltimore but then again Baltimore is in the AL East with Bos,NY and TB so they could be better than us as well. Preseason football cant come soon enough.
The Astros will eventually right the ship. If nothing else, this dismal season and probably the next 2 or 3 serve as further reinforcement of what we've done wrong over the past decade and what we need to do right going forward in order to avoid ever falling back into one of the worst situations a big league club can be in: a bad and aging major league team to go with a depleted pipeline of talent. One can view the fact that we're able to carry a higher payroll than a lot of other teams as a positive but I still wish there was a hard cap in baseball, on both payroll and slow allowances (separate discussion). The last few drafts are encouraging but they basically occurred out of necessity as the lack of young talent became overwhelming and our farm system became the laughing stock of the league. I just hope that a focus on scouting, drafting and developing players and maintaining a healthy farm system proves to be a permanent part of McLane's core philosophy when it comes to team building once we get out of this mess. It would be tragic to see us one day right the ship only to repeat the same mistakes due to nothing but short-sighted decision-making at the top.
On another note, I know that a lot of people credit McLane for overseeing the most successful era in franchise history. Now, I admittedly have only followed the Astros for the past 8 years but I often wonder if he didn't benefit from inheriting good baseball people and a healthier farm system. It would seem that the further we get away from his initial days as owner and as there is more and more turnover within the organization, the more we see the effects of his management philosophy on the state of the club. Currently, we are one of the worst major league teams with one of the worst farm systems in the league and this is still McLane's team. As far as I know from some reading I've done, while there have been difficult times in the history of this franchise, the farm system was almost always a central focus, even when they didn't have the resources to make splashes in free agency. Maybe those that have been around for longer can shed some light on why some of these thoughts are or aren't true.
Brooks, the question to ask is how long can an owner benefit from "inheriting good baseball people and a healthier farm system"? For one thing, the only reason he inherited a halfway decent farm system was because of the fire sale that had happened the two or so seasons before his purchasing the team. Secondly, the GM that was in place when he came wasn't all that great. Thirdly, he *hired* great baseball people in Bob Watson (the first African-American GM) and Gerry Hunsicker. (He also hired Purpura, but two outta three ain't bad.) Finally--and this is the main thing for me--the whole "initial inherited success" argument applies great to a case like Purpura, for obvious reasons. But the Astros were in the freaking toilet in '92, with some promising great rookies and a decent (not best-in-the-league, but decent) farm. Someone had to manage and oversee that thing. *Real* success didn't come until 1997, five years later. They were contending in '94 through '96, but they won four division titles in five years in McLane's sixth through tenth seasons of ownership. Then they stayed competitive and made a World Series soon after. How, how, how is that just luck from "inheriting" something good? It's not. These things are cyclical. Every franchise has ups and downs. If you'll remember, even the Yankees were bottom-feeders for three years from '89 to '92.
Its hard to believe they made the playoff only once in Don Mattingly's career(Hist final season, 1995). They've only missed the playoffs once since then.
In a rain delay tonight. alysonfooter Game delayed until 8 p.m. at the very earliest, but they're saying 8:30 is probably more realistic.
Good post, msn. Thanks. I was just throwing the thought out there to see what long time fans had to say. I know very little about the the team from before 2002. I wasn't sure of the exact state of the organization at the time that he came in. It sounds like he deserves a good share of the credit for the success. Now, let's see if he can right the ship, assuming he sticks around for the process.
Cool, thanks. I love talking old-school Astros baseball. Good times! I've argued (at times too vehemently) that McLane indeed *does* deserve a good share of the credit for that success. But it would be disingenuous of me not to admit that he also deserves a good share of the blame for where they are at now. I'm with you: let us see if he can right the ship (after all, these things are cyclical)--assuming he sticks around. If he sells, I'm firmly in the cheering balcony for the new owner. Because I want the Astros to succeed!
People argue this a lot, but the only thing that keeps sticking in the mind is how much talent Drayton let walk away from this organization because they were too expensive to keep. I mean, the list is staggering.
