I came across this article the other day from The Crawfish Boxes talking about when the author, Stephen Higdon, knew the Astros were headed for disaster.
It’s an interesting read and he brings up some moments I really hadn’t considered. And it got me thinking…when did I know the Astros were headed for disaster.
Maybe it’s the pessimist in me, the part that is always hypercritical of the teams I root for, but I got the feeling the Astros were headed in the wrong direction after the 2005 season. Yes, they had just gone to a World Series, but their team was high on age and low on prospects and I was concerned even then that the Astros’ success was unsustainable.
And I assure you, this is not just 20/20 hindsight revisionist history. You can ask my friends who hated me at the time for killing their World Series buzz with complaints that they’d be in the tank within a couple of years.
That’s where my concerns really started. But if I had to pin down a moment I knew the Astros were headed for disaster, it was Dec. 13, 2006.
The Astros had already been engaged in a very active off-season, having acquired free agents Carlos Lee and Woody Williams a couple of weeks before. I admired their tenacity at the time in going after Lee and signing him to the biggest contract in club history to do something about the offense whose ineffectiveness had just helped them get swept in the World Series. I defended them against critics who said Lee would break down, who said he was a double-play machine, and all of the other criticism that has turned out to be painfully true.
I had to eat crow on that one.
But Woody Williams. The Astros were already old and already short on prospects, and then they decided that signing a 40 year-old free agent was worth losing a first-round draft pick. And he wasn’t cheap. They signed him to a two-year, $12.5 million deal with a club option for a third because he was coming off a flukey season with numbers heavily aided by pitching in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks around, PetCo (ERA went from 2.93 at home to 4.29 on the road).
Of course, that came back to bite them in a big way as they not only lost first-round draft picks in the ensuing years, but also failed to sign draft picks from subsequent rounds. It was a disaster that all started that November.
Then there was Dec. 13. Having whiffed on Jon Garland, the Astros turned around and offered the same three-player pacakge (Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh) to the Rockies for Jason Jennings — a Texan (like Woody Williams) who was coming off the only good season of his career.
Again, they were short on prospects and somehow decided it prudent to deal three of them for a pitcher whose numbers hadn’t even been that good (54-55 with a 4.75 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 5 full years with the Rox).
Suddenly, they found themselvse in the awkward position of being even shorter on prospects, losing draft picks and replacing Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte with Woody Williams and Jason Jennings. To say nothing of giving up on defense entirely by putting Lee in left field and replacing Taveras in center with infielder Chris Burke.
We know how it worked out. Williams didn’t last past the first year of his contract after posting a 5.27 ERA and Jennings was booted after one injury-riddled season with a 6.45 ERA.
Injuries happen. Bad seasons happen. There’s always an element of unpredictability and I allow for that. But that the Astros thought losing their future to get guys who were coming off flukey-good seasons (one of whom was 40 years old) was a wise decision indicated to me they were headed for disaster. They raided their prospects to try and win now, and the guys they got to do it weren’t even that good.
And that lack of foresight and poor evaluation of talent has manifest itself time and time again since then, showing itself most spectacularly in the trade for Miguel Tejada. Dec. 13, 2006 — a day that will live in Astros infamy. The day, for me, that showed they were headed for disaster.
It’s not all bad news from here on out…keep updated with the good news with me on Twitter! http://twitter/astros290
the miguel tejada trade left me in serious dread from day it was pronounced. the jennings deal i was ok with because he did pitch in colorado. woody williams was over paid flier on an old pitcher. the tejada trade is something out of a fantasy. would be good to see luke scott and friends to be back here instead of tejada. oh where art he now? and dont forget tejada was on the mitchell report the very next day as well. either way things could be worse, i could be a royals fan.
I agree with you, just tons and tons of bad decisions. I will say though that they are making “baby steps” toward getting better. I see maybe in 2014-15 us being relevant again. At least in the playoff race. Its going to be a long process, not to mention new ownership. But we need to stay young for now, when Lee’s contract is up get him the hell out of there. And stay young….stay young….STAY YOUNG!
There’s too much money in Houston to not get back to being at good. We need to make due with out draft picks as good as we can, and I like Brad Mills. I mean he did about as well as anyone could hope last year. Whoever takes over this club i’m very interested to see what he’s willing to spend, who he will hire or keep on his staff, & what route he wants to take the team. Houston needs baseball, we love it here. It’s one of the few decently consistant sports franchises of this city. So im keeping my fingers crossed and hope whoever gets in there knows that any good baseball program has a strong farm system and once thats in place, nothing can stop us.
sorry for the typo’s, typed that fast and didnt read through!
why’d we get rid of Aubrey Huff?
I can agree with all that is mentioned, Astros have to keep on going young and fast. With Guerrero being rumored to be signing with the Orioles where does that leave Luke Scott? He’s a great DH, but there is no DH inthe NL. He could understudy Wallace at 1st, pinch hit, relieve Lee etc. etc. He is also a fan favorite, and an all around nice guy.
Interesting thought. Unfortunately, fans liked Luke Scott a lot more than the front office/coaching staff did. I’ve never seen a player get buried so fast and for no reason at all as Scott did. The most games he played for Houston in three years was 132 in 2007, but he only started 92 of those. There were also numerous games where he was pulled early for a pinch-hitter. He had far fewer at-bats than he has in any of his three seasons with the Orioles, even though he played fewer games in two of those seasons, because of platoon extraordinaire Phil Garner.
And they never even gave him a chance to hit lefties. They said he couldn’t but never even tried. He had 547 at-bats against righties and just 116 against lefties. Not many hitters will be any good against any kind of pitcher if they only have a handfull of bats against them each year. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
He’s also better on defense than they ever gave him credit for. He’s not great at tracking the ball down, but he’s certainly better than Carlos Lee, and he’s got a great arm.
But I’m rambling. I’d love to see Scott come back but it’s not going to happen. I’m sure the Orioles will look to deal him, but I get the feeling he left Houston under pretty bad terms. He’ll probably stay in the AL as a DH/OF, but if he comes to the NL, I think he’d be much more likely to go to a contender that could use a little more firepower, like Atlanta, San Francisco or San Diego.