Inexplicably Aggressive Astros

well that's ed wade for ya. He loves his relief pitchers.

Have to question what they're thinking. On one end, they go trade for Wolf and are looking for a reliever. On the other, they might trade Tejada.

Can't they make up their mind? And when they do, they should look at the standings and realize that they've come to the wrong conclusion.

So wait a second let me get this right, they're trying to be buyers but they're 12.5 games out of the Central, with 4 teams in front of them, two of them being the Cubs and the Brew crew and they're 11.5 games out of the wild card race with 7 teams ahead of them and yet Ed Wade thinks hey you know what? In order to get to the playoffs this year we need a relief pitcher! Looking at the fact that they've been out scored by over 50 runs, they need a lot more than a relief pitcher. Well actually they need a miracle to have a chance at the playoffs this year. They'd be better off at selling off their pieces and retooling that horrible excuse for a farm system they have right now. Maybe Wade is just suffering form some head trauma due to Chacon attacking him.

Baseball Prospectus' "Postseason Odds" page puts the Astros' chances of making the playoffs, as of today, at

0.07637%

No, I haven't screwed up the decimal place. That's 7.6 chances in 10,000 of making the playoffs.

Hey, you know who they could sign as a starting pitcher? Shawn Chacon!

The Astros owe it to their fans to start rebuilding instread of striving for mediocrity.

As an Astros fan, I would say I have no clue what they are trying to do. I never give up on a season till we are completely out of it, but it is pretty darn close this year, but they dont' have that bad of a schedule left and plenty of games against the Cubs, who are in front of them and have played them good this year. But that being said, it could be a move made more towards next year, if they pick up one that has another year on him because if they could land a Sheets or CC in the off season and another type B pitcher than they should be competitive.

I love how you attack Ed Wade. The guy works for George Steinbrenner with a lobotomy named Drayton McLane. The man walks around telling people the sky is green and surrounds himself with yes men who nod their heads and agree. Too bad we cant trade our owner, or vote him out of office. Until someone sends him a copy of Money Ball and agrees to build up the farm system and get young talent, we will be headed for years of mediocrity. But please, Ed Wade is the least of our issues.

Seriously guys, can you temper your obvious bias against the Astros and Ed Wade for even one second?? It's ridiculous.

The Astros pen (other than Valverde) is a train-wreck. Did you ever think that Wade was looking for a more long-term solution in the pen? I seriously doubt he'd go for a rental player at this point...

Rebuilding is for suckers? 2-3 decent pitchers? Yeah that's a real easy fix. Keep dreaming, the Astros are screwed for years to come. Do you realize exactly how bad their farm system is? It's a joke. If any of your stars get hurt, they have no one and I mean NO ONE to call up in their place. Not to mention Ed Wade is running out of players to trade for washed up has-beens. Minor league depth is essential to a winning organization, just ask the Red Sox, Yankees and Angels.

You said it - "Do you realize exactly how bad their farm system is? It's a joke".

Yep, and I completely agree. So what exactly are the Astros to rebuild with? Do you really think they can get enough prospects to build even a remotely talented team by trading guys like Tejada and Wigginton?

To rebuild - that implys you have something in the system to bring the the major league level. The Astros, by your own admission have none.

So the options are:

To trade everyone but Pence (which would be hard since Lee, Berkman and Oswalt all have full no-trade clauses and are obviously more talented than anyone they could get in return, especially when everyone knows it's a dump - see Marlins 2004) and field a Class A team at the major league level.

Or keep the stars and the lineup intact, and acquire players in the next few offseasons to shore up talent allowing the minor league system the 3-4 years needed to re-stock.

I know which one I'd choose, and McLane's no dummy. No one would buy tickets to see a Class A team + Pence lose 120 games a season...

Astros fan wrote:

To trade everyone but Pence (which would be hard since Lee, Berkman and Oswalt all have full no-trade clauses
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I'm sure if you found good teams for Berkman, Lee and Oswalt they would be happy to go to a contender. The Astros have little to no shot as they are for at least the next 3-4 years.
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and are obviously more talented than anyone they could get in return, especially when everyone knows it's a dump - see Marlins 2004)
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uhhh the Marlins got Hanley Ramirez from the Red Sox when they "dumped" Josh Beckett. That worked out pretty well for them.

"the Marlins got Hanley Ramirez from the Red Sox when they "dumped" Josh Beckett."

Just to make you a more informed person, you should know that they did not dump Josh Beckett. The Marlins wanted to dump Mike Lowell after he hit .236 that year, so the Red Sox took Lowell- who appeared to have a bad contract- and Beckett.

I would understand if Wade was trying to set up moves for the future, but a middle reliever isn't going to be a main cog for the future. Believe me, I know the Astros need some relief help - in the beginning of the season, Wesley Wright looked like their best reliever out of their bullpen. However, I don't see how a move for a 30-something middle reliever is going to help things.

To get the Astros out of a hole, they have to sign Sabathia, Sheets, or another top-of-the-line starter next year to go with Roy Oswalt. Their pitching is way too weak.