Houston Astros Past Their Prime

PRIME TIME.

You're ninth in payroll—which limits your activity—yet you keep thinking this is a hospital for pitchers and say "this guy's got something left in the tank!"

One thing is if you did it one year, another is two years, but going on three or four years? Last time the Houston Astros had a decent pitching staff was when Clemens and Petitte were in and that seemed like two decades ago.

Your ace has been lobbying for another quality ace starter for the past couple of years...all was done was rehab central....and this year introduces the ah...amaz...amazin...eh-hem...amazing who?...yes, yes, you're right Mr. Wade...the amazing...Brett Meyers!? Is that right, another Philly connection?

He may be a serviceable fourth starter. There have been so many starters rotating for years in and out. The only one that sticks out in anyone's mind is Oswalt and Wandy (just had a break out year, we'll see). I can understand this rotation of pitchers coming from a rebuilding team with a low low payroll, but not from the ninth payroll in all of baseball.

Like a man, Oswalt honors his contract and sucks it up and doesn't say much, yet we all sense his frustrations and the hints that he gives...on camera. "I don't mind if I get traded...as long as it benefits the team." He's wasting his career away with a team that can't provide run support against other No. 1 starters and a bullpen that blows his lead and potential win.

No wonder his pitching production has slipped. 16 no decisions in '09. You know who this reminds me of when he pitched for us? Frustrating as it was for him, he made more than $20 million a season. Do you know who it is? That's right—the Rocket Man himself, Roger Clemens.

Imagine every offseason thinking, who are we going to sign this off season as a star pitcher? And getting "What? I mean who? I thought he went off to pitch in Antarctica!"

Imagine going to the mound every start and thinking will I get any run support? Or will the bullpen blow it up for me? I better pitch twice as hard. This sometimes leads to many mistakes. Subconsciously he knows he's not going to ever get to 20 wins again. At least not with this team and makeup. Maybe with another if he decides not to retire.

Is Drayton that blind? Because we all know The Ed Wade Award is.

You're betting on Bud Norris to be the next in-line-Rookie-Ace? He looks promising yet he looks more inconsistent than steady. Same is with 97 MPH Paulino who needs his off-speed to work much better, otherwise he'll be dropping 95 pitches in five innings per contest. In an ideal world, I would like both these guys to come in one and two in the Cy Young award this coming year, but we all know...it's not going to happen anytime soon.

All your big hitters except Pence are aging. They're in the peak of their prime (if that exists) or slipping off. Your minor league system is a few years away from respectability.

Quietly, you depend on two rookie pitchers to carry you upward. You don't have a true closer, you signed an enigmatic 100 MPH pitcher to be your setup man. You lost production at SS and replaced it at 3B; your 2B is enigmatic and injury prone; your 1B is streaky and seemingly slipping in production; your catchers are unknown; your LF seemingly gains more weight every year; your CF is improving; your RF is encouraging.

All the while you have two ducks in the pond, two baby ducks learning how to swim, and the rest are chickens pretending to be ducks. If you didn't get it, ducks are pitchers in this fray.

You have only two true starters—Oswalt and Wandy. The two rookie pitchers are trivial. We all know it's not their fault we don't succeed because they haven't established anything yet other than a couple of good starts the year before.

What do you do? You listen to your GM who won his own award, the Ed Wade Award. If baseball had adopted the Oscar Award, the Ed Wade Award is the opposite of it. Yes, Ed is rebuilding our farm system, only after he traded most of the prospects away. You're good at building the farm system, maybe you should be Director of Operations for the minor league.

Really, the big show is the majors and in the majors, if you don't have pitching, especially with current lineups where shortstops, second baseman, and even catchers can hit for both average and power, you're not going very far.

"It's going to be alright...we have high hopes," confidently said Ed while hiding his sweaty palms, as we did the past three years, in mediocrity!

As we all know, Astros fans in Houston have more excitement about the library than the Houston Astros because the owner, who is a good owner—ninth in salary—is an owner that is in a trance. He doesn't get it.

It's not number sense, it's talent sense. When the premiere player is on the market, pay him. Don't wait until next year and sign the next second best or B-rated version and eat up your payroll just the same.

As a matter of fact even signing the premiere player gives you more return by ways of increased media publicity, prime time; increased spirit among fans which leads to increased season ticket holders; increased sell outs; increased sales of products such as jerseys, hates, etc. being purchased. Increased team moral. Your indirect returns far exceed initial investment.

Again, what do you do? We all know you are going to try to play out the season. As fans, we can't help but support hoping to win, like Miracle On 34th Street, but we know it's the same old tune again.

This time by the break you're going to reach mediocrity again. You hold fast and break the cycle knowing these guys serve much better on a championship contender and re...wait...wait...wait...you first fire the GM...then you rebuild and get bundles of prospects.

You want a championship team just as bad as anyone, yet we understand and can embrace the rebuilding process, especially from an owner who has been spending over $100 million in payroll. As a matter of fact we've been embracing the rebuilding process for years. Yet we could understand why you passed so many obvious decisions, especially with the continual rehab central for pitchers past their prime coming back from surgeries than all other teams passed up on them.

If this subliminal message / chant / prayer (whatever you want to call it) doesn't work, then sell the team.

Sell the team and righteously the new owner will employ a new GM that does not have an award named after him.