Monday, November 28, 2011

The Way A Purge Should Be Done!

And in the second purging of a team that I like, the Houston Astros fired their President and GM after the fall from the top in 2005 to the absolute bottom in 2011.  And believe me, there is a Champagne bottle that is at least half empty in my house because of it.

Jim Crane should be nominated for Man of the Month for the purchase of the Houston Astros and then also deciding that the Phillies plant Ed Wade and Astros front office person Tal Smith for 35 years and no World Series titles that have came the 'Stros way needed to go and to start over with what he has purchased. 

The most reviled GM in Astros history, Ed Wade will be remembered in Houston as the guy who loved trading with the Philadelphia Phillies and most fans feel that he got ripped off each and every time he did a trade with the Phillies.  Hunter Pence and Roy Oswalt were the two big names traded to Philly, with 1/2 of Oswalt's salary being paid by the Astros.  I wish that the Astros would take a chance on a veteran starter and find somebody that would pay 1/2 of his salary.

Wade also traded away Lance Berkman to the St. Louis Cardinals.  I am surprised that we even got a bag of balls in that trade, seeing that Wade undervalued each and every piece he traded away.  Michael Bourne went over to Atlanta for a song and a promise.  The only person on the roster that anybody even has a passing interest in is Wandy Rodriguez and he will probably be traded because having a Left-handed Front Line pitcher is worth more in trade than with a team that has no talent.  And no, Carlos Lee isn't talented. 

Jim Crane had $70 Million chopped off the Purchase Price to agree to switch to the American League in 2013.  Nice Business savvy.  Now hopefully, he can bring in a baseball man for the GM and pair it with his Business acumen and start riding roughshod over the weak AL West around 2015.

6 comments:

Zebster said...

There's no reason, other than horrible management, that a team in one of the biggest markets in this country can't be competitive year in and year out. So they've taken the right steps. It's just too bad it was so screwed up before it started to be fixed. And now you have a natural rival in the Rangers in the same division. Weak AL West?

Anonymous said...

Except for the Rangers, the AL West is weak. Oakland struggles financially. Anaheim is on the down swing and Seattle is way down in the dumps.

Zebster said...

The Angels are a solid franchise that was supposed to have contended last year and did for much of the season. They won't go too far or too long down. Two competitive teams is not a weak division in my opinion.

Brent said...

Let's see, you have the Angels that are starting to look like underachievers yearly. The Mariners aren't tough and the A's are the A's. The Rangers have went to the World Series two years in a row, so besides the Strangers, the AL West isn't as strong as the other two divisions in the AL.

Zebster said...

So now that we all agree to disagree, is that a problem? The way the Stros have been managed, they're going to be looking up from the bottom of any division. Or is it more not wanting to be in the AL?

Brent said...

Yes, we will be looking up from the bottom in 2013, but I have faith that by 2015, the team can be a strong 2nd place in the division.

I am not liking the move to the AL, but this was the easiest thing for MLB to do, so they did it. I would have voted for 2 additional franchises in Portland and another city west of the Mississippi and have 8 four team divisions. Anyways, the Astros moving will take some adjustments to the way that the team is going to be built. But I still contend that we can make leaps and bounds in the AL West, if the new management team of the Astros make the right moves.