What if we never sign carlos lee.....2009 Astros and what Should Have Been Today

What frustrates me is management could have retooled (not "rebuild") 3-4 years ago without having to part ways with Berkman and Oswalt. Regardless of how they were viewed, they were (And are) still productive pieces that were the face of the franchise, connecting back to Biggio and Bagwell.

It was obvious to many fans, but unfortunately the team put itself back five years at the least. I haven't been following the team much the past three years out of frustration with the management, but I don't presume the farm system is particularly strong.

Sucks to be mediocre -- or worse than mediocre.

 

You're vastly underrating Zobrist, which, btw, is precisely how the Astros got themselves into this mix. In his 3.5 seasons as a full-time ML'er, he's posted a 120, 149, 97 and 127 OPS+ (with 100 = league average). So fairly well above league average all but one year.

And that's, to me, the team's biggest failing: it was completely and totally dumbfounded by its own minor league talent. Trading for a guy like Huff made sense, but giving up Zobrist didn't. Zobrist had posted a .300+ average and .400+ OB% at every single level and had a .907 OPS when they dealt him. He was 25 and stuck in double A in a system with *no* verifiable SS prospects. How did they not value him as an upper echelon prospect in mid-bottling.

Had they been a smart organization, they would have been preparing to build around Berkman/Oswalt with Zobrist and Pence (again: Pence had been pretty dynamic in the minors and should have at least made them pause before dumping a truck full of money in Lee's yard) and guys of that ilk. That was a sustainable plan. But I think the "win now" high of '05 and their own internal incompetence ultimately sank them.

A team of Berkman, Oswalt, Pence, Zobrist with potentially guys like Hirsch, etc., might be a pretty decent team.