Quote:
Instead of trading Lidge last off-season, the Astros decided to take a gamble that Lidge would return to form. I can't criticize that decision, because it looked like a reasonable risk to take.


The trading-Lidge-issue aside, the really poor decision in my mind is not having much of a plan B if Lidge continued to suck. Yeah, I know, we can go with Wheeler, that is an option, but it would have been prudent imo to have a list of possibilities. Maybe put some more pressure on Estrada in spring training to see if that would work. Reineke? I'm not sure, but the Astros don't seem very prepared to address a weakness that could have been seen miles away. I fear that if the closer role continues to be a weakness (hardly a certainty, I understand), they will pull off another midseason desperation move where they get reamed.