MLB Teams Who Need to Follow Astros Lead and Clean House Immediately

The announcement came today that the Astros have fired GM Ed Wade and team president Tal Smith less than a week after the team was officially sold to Jim Crane.

With the sale comes a move to the American League in 2013, and Crane will have his work cutout for him in the next year or so as he attempts to revamp his team from the front office down to the 25th player on the roster.

That got me to thinking, what other teams could benefit from a dramatic overhaul, whether it starts with the front office or a fire sale and youth movement. Here is a look at which MLB teams that could benefit from drastic change.

Houston Astros

2011 Record: 56-106

Let's start with the team making news today, as the Astros have a ton of work to do to get back to contention. Brad Mills is slated to manage for the 2012 season and has an option for 2013, and he will play a big role in shaping the team on the field, but there is a lot of work to be done on the trade market for a team that needs to commit 100 percent to rebuilding at this point.

Players Who Should Be Moved
SP Wandy Rodriguez, SP Brett Myers,1B Carlos Lee

The team traded away a good amount veteran talent in the past two seasons, moving Roy Oswalt, Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence for a handful of impressive prospects. However, there is still work to be done, and they should be able to get a good return on Rodriguez and even Myers if he can return to 2010 form. As for Lee, he is just taking at bats from Brett Wallace at this point, and the team should eat most of the $18.5 million he is still owed and move him to the first taker.

Franchise Building Blocks
1B Jonathan Singleton, SS Jonathan Villar, OF George Springer, SP Jared Cosart, SP Jordan Lyles, SP Bud Norris

The team has some pieces in place to build around moving forward, and the debut of top pitching prospect Jordan Lyles last season gave fans at least a glimpse of the future. Singleton is the prize of the organization right now after coming over in the Roy Oswalt trade, and 2011 first-round pick Springer should reach the majors fairly quickly.

Oakland Athletics

2011 Record: 74-88

The Athletics have been on a steady decline since their last postseason appearance in 2006, and they look to be in for another long season in 2012. Billy Beane has begun to build up a solid core of young talent, but the team continues to sign veteran free agents and perform just outside of contention. The time may be now for a full scale remodel, and the team has confirmed that they will listen to offers on anyone not named Jemile Weeks.

Players Who Should Be Moved
SP Gio Gonzalez, RP Andrew Bailey, C Kurt Suzuki

The Athletics have a good amount of young contributors at the big league level, but very few players with any actual trade value. The team missed out by holding onto Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp and David DeJesus last season and should have dealt any and all of them. Closer Andrew Bailey and catcher Kurt Suzuki have some trade value, but the real prize trade chip is left-hander Gio Gonzalez. He and the Braves Jair Jurrjens are the best arms on the trade block, and he could net the Athletics an impressive prospect package as I explored in a previous article. 

Franchise Building Blocks
OF Grant Green, OF Michael Choice, DH/OF Chris Carter, SP Trevor Cahill, SP Sonny Gray

The farm system has some future stars in it, and Grant Green and Michael Choice could get a look in 2012 with all three starting outfielders departing in free agency. Their 2011 first-round pick Sonny Gray should be fast tracked to the majors, and if left-hander Ian Krol can get his act together off the field he gives them another top flight pitching prospect. The wild card is slugger Chris Carter who has 40 home run potential but has yet to put it together, and he should get an extended look in 2012.

Seattle Mariners

2011 Record: 67-95

The Mariners have lost at least 90 games in three of the past four seasons and they have a horrendous offense to thank for that, as their pitching has been stellar. General Manager Jack Z is finally starting to shape the team the way he would like after dealing with the mess left behind by Bill Bavasi for the past few seasons. This will be his most important season, as an influx of young talent is expected to debut in Seattle in 2012, and how he and Eric Wedge handle the season could very well determine their futures with the team.

Players Who Should Be Moved
3B Chone Figgins, CF Franklin Gutierrez, CP Brandon League

The Mariners are another team with very few tradable parts, unless they were to make Felix Hernandez available which seems counter productive. Closer Brandon League may have the highest value and could be moved at the deadline in 2012 as he is an All-Star closer but is already 29 and the team may decide to sell high on him. Gutierrez plays a great center field but can't hit all of a sudden and is due $13 million over the next two seasons. The same goes for Figgins, who has $17 million left on his deal and hit a whopping .188 last season.

Franchise Building Blocks
SP Felix Hernandez, SP Michael Pineda, SP Danny Hultzen, 1B Justin Smoak, 2B Dustin Ackley, 3B Alex Liddi

Along with the above mentioned players, the Mariners have a solid group of low-level prospects with tremendous upside who could be future starters and starts. In the end, the Mariners have to be patient while their impressive system comes along. Trading away veterans and getting the youngsters at bast will be key, and deciding if Eric Wedge is the man to handle the rebuild will be equally important.

New York Mets

2011 Record: 77-85

The Mets are finally beginning to get out from under some of their big contracts, with Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez no longer on the books and Jose Reyes likely headed elsewhere as well. Sandy Alderson is entering his second year as GM and his first with any real breathing room as far as personnel. The team will need to decide if Terry Collins will be their manager moving forward, and whether or not to move David Wright among other things this coming season as they decide how big of a rebuild is in order.

Players Who Should Be Moved
3B David Wright, LF Jason Bay, SP Mike Pelfrey

While the Mets have eliminated much of the dead weight as far as contracts go, they are still on the hook for $32 million to Bay over the next two seasons. If he by some miracle gets off to a hot start in 2012 the team should deal him the first chance they get, even if it means saving a few million. Pelfrey is due a raise from arbitration and will likely earn around $5 million so if the team can move him before they are forced to non-tender him they should.

Wright is the tough one though, because with Reyes gone the team would no doubt like to hang onto him. However, they should be open to listening to offers and if whoever misses out on Aramis Ramirez makes them a solid offer they have to seriously consider it.

Franchise Building Blocks
1B Ike Davis, SS Ruben Tejada, OF Brandon Nimmo, SP Dillon Gee, SP Matt Harvey, SP Zack Wheeler, P Jenrry Mejia

Much of the Mets minor league talent is still in the low levels of their system, and it is still wait and see with guys like Wilmer Flores and Jeurys Familia. That said, they have a good group of talented young players, with the biggest issue being the lack of a true star player offensively moving forward, but that's where their freed up payroll comes in.

Chicago White Sox

2011 Record: 79-83

Entering the 2011 season, the White Sox were the favorites to take the AL Central with a deep rotation and the addition of Adam Dunn to an already solid lineup. Instead they flopped big time, as Dunn was perhaps the worst everyday player in baseball as he hit .159. Now, just a year removed from being an AL favorite the team could be headed for a full-on rebuild. That could mean getting a fresh set of eyes in the front office, as GM Kenny Williams has never been afraid to make a move but may not be the guy to lead the rebuild.

Players Who Should Be Moved
RF Carlos Quentin, SP Gavin Floyd, SP John Danks

The White Sox had two starting pitchers set to hit the free agent market last season in Edwin Jackson and Mark Buehrle, and they'll have two once again in Flyod and Danks. Both players are under-30 and still have a lot of innings ahead of them. Danks likely has the bigger trade value but both should net a good return. Quentin is their biggest trade chip though, and he could be THE bat to acquire at the deadline.

Franchise Building Blocks
2B Gordon Beckham, SS Alexi Ramirez, P Chris Sale, RP Addison Reed

Unlike many of the teams on this list, the White Sox have a wealth of top tier talent available to trade, but little within the organization to build around moving forward. With the contracts of Alex Rios and Dunn going no where, they will need to get creative when it comes to rebuilding. Chris Sale's transition to the rotation may be the most important factor of the 2012 season looking forward.

Los Angeles Dodgers

2011 Record: 82-79

The Dodgers are finally in the process of getting a new owner, and with the move should come the firing of Ned Colletti. How he has lasted as long as he did after the horrendous signings of Jason Schmidt (three-years, $47 million), Juan Pierre (five-year, $44 million), Andruw Jones (two-years, $36.2 million), and Manny Ramirez (two-years, $45 million) is surprising in itself.

Players Who Should Be Moved
1B James Loney, SP Ted Lilly, RF Andre Ethier? 

The Dodgers already have a good amount of money coming off the books this season, but they could benefit even further from trading/non-tendering James Loney and finding a taker for veteran Ted Lilly and the $22.5 million left on his contract. The biggest question though will be if the team is capable of re-signing Ethier, because if they are not they would be wise to move him and reap the benefits of the prospect package he would bring in return.

Franchise Building Blocks
CF Matt Kemp, SP Clayton Kershaw, SP Clay Billingsley, SS Dee Gordon, RP Kenley Jansen SP Nathan Eovaldi, SP Zach Lee

The Dodgers have a solid group of talented young players who would could serve as the core of a perennial playoff team if they gaps can be filled in around them. However, with the ownership situation still up in the air the 2012 season could be of the same ilk as 2011. Still, once a new owner is found and a new GM is installed the team could return to contention very quickly.