SB Nation User Blog: TBurford

Fire Ed Wade

TBurford — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:09:41 -0000

Let's try and find a good move Ed Wade has made:

The Tejada deal gave the Astros an underperfomring SS with 13 mil per year contract and we gave up cheap young players with possible upside. On top of that Wade has told Tejada he will not be traded from the Astros this season. Why? Because you might get a prospect or two? Is he afraid of lowering payroll? He can't be worried about having a bad baseball team because he already does.

The best piece we got for Brad Lidge was Geary. A good closer for a good 7th inning guy...

Jose Valverde - We gave up Qualls who has a lower ERA and lower WHIP but at least we got a closer. Right?

And now we have LaTroy Hawkins. Every bulpen needs a guy with a 5.7 ERA. Yippie!

There could be an underlying grand scheme that only he Wade knows. Otherwise Ed Wade has shown to have entered the GM realm of Tim Purpura and he should be fired.

The Astros are on pace for 75-87 - What do you think?

TBurford — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:29:23 -0000

The CBs starts the season with what everyone thinks the W/L total will be and I want to do it now that we have seen a decent slice of what the team has.

I think the 75-87 is about right for what they have shown so far so I am putting my number there.

Does anyone think they will that much better or worse?

Make your predictions now and let's see who the best prognosticator is. Or who started drinking at lunch on Firday and goes for 86-78.

On a Rant

TBurford — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:20:08 -0000

I was going to do my usual ‘Things that worry me…’ but I realized that just about everything the Astros do worries me now. They are poorly owned, poorly led, lacking talent, and apparently void of self control in some situations.

The Owner…It all starts at the top with Drayton McLane. McLane is one of the worst owners in baseball. He cannot see beyond the end of his nose as to what to do to help the Astros win. He will pay Carlos Lee 100 million dollars but not spend 10 bucks on player development. The Astros system is void of talent that can help the team in the next couple years. Of course Drayton could never envision trading high end players to try and bolster the minor league system. He would rather keep these guys so that when the Astros finally do have something coming out of the system today’s stars will be to old to contribute at their present levels. So McLane will continue lying to his fans and saying the Astros are going to compete so he can try and keep fans in the seats and keep the money coming. He is not smart enough to see that if told us the team was going to rebuild we would still go. Instead he lies to us and pisses us off.

The GM…Well I think after last nights incident we can see how well he treats his players. How come none of the players said that what Chacon did was wrong? Do they all like Wade as much as Chacon? Of course Wade’s philosophy of a strong bullpen has worked real well. So what if there is no lead to protect. Why spend the money just to spend the money? I would never condone Chacon’s actions but I will say I am a little jealous I can’t punch Wade.

The Manager… Cecil Cooper seems to coach with a philosophy of it has always been done that way so we are going to do it that way. When you are down by one run in the eighth, with no outs, a guy on first, you should have Michael Bourn bunt. Let’s just ignore the fact that all the numbers say you have a better chance to score with a guy on first and no outs than a guy on second and one out – even if the bunt had been successful. Yes there are ways the situation could have turned out worse but not many. Do you really think you are going to hit into a double play with Michael Bourn running? Cooper needs to try and learn about the game he is coaching.

The Players…I really can’t get down on these guys too much. They are playing up to – down to? – their talent level. There are not enough quality arms for the Astros to complete right now no matter how well Berkman and the others can hit.

The Fans – I was at the game last night when Erstad was on first, Bourn hitting, no outs, and the Astros down by one. The fans beyond the right field fence were trying to start the wave. Not cheering for the Astros, not giving it to the opposing pitcher, or trying to pump Bourn up. They were trying to start the wave. As I not so quietly noted this I was told to stop being a ‘sourpuss’. I was too surprised to even respond. This is a tight game with building excitement and a chance for your team to try and win. But by mentioning that I wanted to see this I was a ‘sourpuss’. Would you even see something like this in a first class baseball town? Would Cardinal fans be doing anything but losing their minds and their voices for their team in that situation? Would Red Sox Nation not be shaking the pillars of Fenway? But Astros fans are performing a ritual that was cool in Chavez Ravine in 1984. Way to support your team Astros fans.

At this point you can see that I am frustrated with just about everything Astros’. Unfortunately I can only see losing seasons for the next 5-7 years unless serious changes are made. At least the fans will have the wave down.

Break up the Astros!

TBurford — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:06:16 -0000

No I am not kidding. They have regressed to the mean and need to do something.

There are quite a few obstacles to overcome to make this work but it can happen and can make the Astros a better team in the long run.

The first things we have to do is get rid of the owner or change his mind set. The Astros have one of the worst owners in professional sports who does not get that fans know what we are looking at – especially those on message boards like this. Do not offer us a line about how the Astros are going to win and then feed us bullshit. We know the difference. We are smart enough to understand that depending on the market and personnel rebuilding may be necessary some times. Tell us that is going to happen and we will still come see the games. That way when the winning starts we will brag that we have been there all along. Drayton does not get this. Up to this point he has stuck with what Billy Wagner said and just tried to compete and not win. All Uncle Drayton wants is fans in the seats. He got lucky early with Hunsicker as the GM. Now he has Drayton Junior as the GM and everybody follows the line given to them by the Old Boys Club led by Bud Selig. Stay in rookie contract slot, open the roof for the WS… What would an owner like Mark Cuban have done if somebody told him to do that? So assuming we can’t get rid of Drayton let’s break out the two by fours and change his way of thinking.
Second we need to find a GM who can figure out that no matter how good your bullpen is if your starters suck then it does you no good. All the Astros did was a hire another member of the Old Boys Club who would tow the line. Drayton Junior needs to go.

Next move is to get rid of Carlos Lee. The reason I say trade Lee are that he has the longest and largest contract. Ok the guy can hit but he is getting older, slower, and fatter and his contract is getting bigger and has four years left after this season. The food bill alone will be worth the trade. Find an AL team who will give up a couple solid prospects and dump El Caballo.

Next…Everyone not named Pence and Towles is available. Yes I mean Berkman, Oswalt, Valverde, and the rest. A few would have to waive their no trade clause but what do you think the Indians would give for Berkman or the Yankees for Oswalt if they would go? Not quite a kings ransom but not far from it either.

OR…Drayton can open up the pocket book big time this off-season and sign Sabathia and a Wolf/Burnett/Penny type and try and buy a winning team.

Of course they could just keep giving us the same bullshit and try not to come in last.

What's Wrong with Roy?

TBurford — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:47:01 -0000

At this point I really think that Oswalt may have an injury that is causing him to pitch so poorly. No movement on the fastball, curve that is only there some of the time, and not the dominant number one Astros fans have gotten used to. This guy has been as consistent as can be expected for his entire career but this year it is just not there this season.

In the last 6 seasons only once did he not go at least 212 innings and his worst ERA and WHIP have been 3.49 and 1.33. This year he is on pace for 5.6 and 1.49. He also have 6 QSs in 11 games. In the last 3 years he has averaged 24 QSs and 33 starts.

What is wrong? Has he worn down? I don't think so. He is only 30 - 31 next month - which is not old and he has shown no signs of it before. Is his groin an issue? Is there something else we don't know about?

I am loving the way the Astros are fighting and clawing for wins, coming from behind, and having fun while playing with a never say die attitude. Can it continue without that one sure thing every five games and a top of the order guy? I just don't see it.

CALLING FOR INSTANT REPLAY!

TBurford — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:47:00 -0000

Why can the powers that be not make an easy move and put instant replay to use in baseball. This is shifting a paradigm or moving any moutains to get it done. At least three times in the past week umps have missed an HR call that would have taken 30 seconds to overturn and get right. At least for calling the HRs MLB needs to make this happen. It is not hard to implement, is completely transparent, and is fair for all sides.

Things that worry me...

TBurford — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:30:31 -0000

For some reason the Randy Johnson/Shawn Chacon game keeps popping up in my mind. I hate that loss.

The offense from the bench. Besides Erstad the bats there just don't inspire confidence.

Michael Bourn's OBP. He's got three hits and two walks in May. Ugh. That has got to get better or move Matsui to lead off. He cannot keep swinging and missing at the first pitch. And whay does he keep popping out to RF? The guy is one of the fastest players in the game. HIT THE BALL ON THE GROUND AND RUN!

And things that don't...

The starting pitching is still going strong. They are not world beaters but they give the team a chance to win.

This team scraps. I do not remember an Astros team that would fight game to game for wins and not let down. These guys are blue collar ball players and will use all 27 outs (or more) to get a win. I love seeing it.

The offense. Matsui is doing much better than I expected, Tejada is loving the short porch in left, Pence is starting to show power, and Berkman... well his OPS is 1195. That is not just kind of good.

2 over 500 and a 5 GAME WIN STEAK!

Things that worry me...

TBurford — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:00:14 -0000

Having to pitch to Albert Pujols this weekend. His #'s against the Astros are 313, 405, and 568 which are actually below his career #'s but he does seem to get some clutch hits against us. That sound was me hitting myself with my monitor.

What do we do with Wiggington once he comes back into the lineup? Can he slide back into the lineup without causing a problem?

What is going to go wrong? Sorry the Houston sports fan in me is a fatalist (realist?) The defense can't keep this up right? The starters (including Matt Cassel) can't keep going this way can they? Are the Astros this good?

And things that don't...

Roy Oswalt...Last 2 start, 14 innings, 4 ER, 11 hits, 4 walks, 10 Ks. That is guy we all know and love

The bats are finally doing what we need them to do.

Mr Cooper. I am impressed so far with his willingness to move guys around in the lineup, make some changes to get the guys who are going well where they need to be, while still not stonewalling guys that need to get out there and work our their problems. So far I am giving him an A.

Questions?

TBurford — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:26:43 -0000

Does anybody know where the real Roy O was for his first three starts?

Does anybody know where the Astros offense was till the last couple days?

Does anyone know where the real Astros defense is? Or more importantly how to keep it there? I like the one we have now.

If anyone does know where the defense is hiding do you know how to put other things there? Such as pitchers named Peavy? Otherwise I think the Astros offense might end up back in hiding again.

Does anyone know why I don't get anything done at work? This really confuses me.

Things that worry me...

TBurford — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:37:50 -0000

The .275 OBP is the worst in the NL. Not getting hits AND not taking a walk. Not good.

The bullpen that Ed Wade spent the offseason revamping stinks.

That Ed Wade is the GM. Pausing to take a swig of bleach

And things that don't...

Roy Oswalt. Two poor starts do not make me nervous. Over the past 5 years he has been one of the best in baseball

The defense. I am not sure where it came from but I am not going to complain. Two errors in 10 games? Anyone who says they saw that coming I have a polygraph set up for.

Berkman, Lee, and Tejada in the middle of the lineup. These guys will hit. It is just what they do.