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Clack, they don't have a choice but to make Round Rock a "holding tank" for underachieving veterans. They can't just fold their AAA affiliate. They wouldn't (and shouldn't) call up players to AAA that aren't ready for it. A roster has to be filled and this is the only way to fill it. You can always hope that one or two of these can catch lightning in a bottle and become a big league contributor until the prospects take their places.

I'm excited about Brad James and Sammy Grevano. I think they can each be on the Astros by the end of next year of they continue to progress.

And let's give Wade some creit. He wasn't given a strong hand to play and look what's he done. Does anyone really regret making the Tejada trade, given what we gave up to get him? Does anyone want to say signing Matsui looks like a bad move right now? Shawn Chacon? The Qualls-Burke trade for Valverde hasn't worked well so far but perhaps Valverde is turning a corner. The Villarreal deal isn't so great but we didn't give up much for him either. And the Geary-Bourn deal for Lidge really depends on how you feel about Lidge and how he would have performed if he were still here.

I know Wade gets routinely trashed by various bloggers but I've got to say I'm very impressed. That may change in another 2-3 months but right now I think overall he's done a great job.