I am sympathetic to the points made by Barzilla and Bob. I've previously argued that there is value to getting improvement by constructing a team that can win, say, 70 - 75 games. Despite my desire for more off-season signings, when I look at the available options in the off-season realistically, there really weren't a lot of good choices (at a reasonable cost) in the market this year. Sure the Astros could roll the dice on a bunch of Bill Hall/Pedro Feliz/Jason Michaels type signings, like Wade produced. (And one could argue that Carlos Pena falls in that category.) But how far does that move the W/L dial, and would it really generate fan excitement? If the Astros had spent $150 million (or whatever) on signing a couple of big names like Josh Hamilton and Greineke, that might have added 8 - 10 wins to the Astros' record, but that still may have left the Astros below 70 wins; and would it have made sense to cripple the franchise with those kind of costs? I probably could have come up with signing ideas that would advance the W/L record to 65 - 70 wins at a much lower cost than the big name path. But would guys like Napoli, Haren, or Youkliis sign contracts with a team that is destined for a lower division finish, when they can sign with teams that are legitimate contenders?

The Astros' 100+ loss seasons in 2011 and 2012 makes the team unattractive to most free agents, except for those wanting to re-establish themselves. If the Astros could sign attractive free agents, they likely would have to overpay, and even then may not get their guy. (Look at the Cubs who made a nice sized contract offer to Edwin Jackson, but still lost him to the Tigers, because the Tigers are contenders.) In fact, I am concerned that the Astros have gotten themselves into the Pirates' Catch 22---the losing reputation prevents them from signing good free agents, even when they are willing to make competitive offers, yet it is difficult to improve without signing free agents.  That leaves the "build the farm system" path as perhaps the best realistic option.  Obviously, the Astros are trying to be as aggressive as they can in pursuing that path.

So, yes, I am concerned that the lack of W/L progress would further hurt the Astros' fan base. But at this point, it's hard to assign too much blame when I don't have a path for 2013 that is clearly better (and feasible).


Last Edited By: Clack Jan 3 13 10:45 AM. Edited 1 times.