Stephen Goff of Examiner spoke to several people within the Astros organization recently, so let's round up the news. All links go to Goff's Twitter feed…
- GM Ed Wade does not expect the team to be very active in this winter's free agent market. "It would run contrary to what we did at the trade deadline," he said. "Our goal is to trend to a younger club to where we can sustain success for an extended period."
- Wade likes the job Clint Barmes has done this year and would like to re-sign him, but the team's "economic environment" might not allow them to do so. Ben Nicholson-Smith revisited the trade that brough Barmes to Houston earlier this month.
- Owner Drayton McLane said he expects the final sale of the team to Jim Crane to be approved by MLB within the next three or four weeks.
When your “economic environment” doesn’t allow you to re-sign Clint Barmes, you have issues.
man, you know you just suck when you can’t afford barmes but yet you have lee
That was Uncle Drayton thinking he gave the Rangers the finger by signing Lee away from them. Now all Lee is good for is to DH in the AL, but his contract is as bloated as he is.
The most important thing for the Astros (and the scariest thing) is to build wisely through the draft and take the top available player everytime. I don’t see the Astros set up to do that.
Ed Wade shouldn’t be allowed to rebuild this club he helped gut and as long as Drayton is there they will go for the most affordable player in the drafts…not the most talented.
I don’t think Wade will be around to do that once the sale goes through, if the sale goes through, and it’s looking like 50-50 now.
Honestly, the Astros are probably going to be suppressed for along time. Other than Brett Wallace there isn’t much talent in that clubhouse or system.
Wallace himself isn’t that good either. Average 1st baseman at best IMO.
Yikes – when you’re using an example of a corner infielder with a .699 OPS as someone who has actual talent, then yeah, it’s a dire situation.
I would have said JD Martinez, Bud Norris, Jordan Lyles or somebody other than Wallace
Not going to kid myself, we’re looking at a few Pirates-like years ahead.
But I hope the new owner has a plan and sticks to it, instead of Ed Wade’s dumb free agent signings and his trading inexpensive MLB players who can help the team.
Is Houston still moving to the AL West?
I think it really sucks that the astros are going through this…and I’m not even an astros fan. I really hope that one day they’ll become competitive again.
I hope they become competitive again in the same league they’e spent the first 50 years in, rather than playing in a BS league with BS rules.
Who cares how it will benefit Carlos Lee. He’s gone after next season anyway.
The incoming ownership and the fans don’t want a move, but Bud’s trying to cram it down our throats.
BTW: There’s zero rivalry between the Astros and Rangers, only the one Bud invented.