The Astros

[MarcoPolo]

A comment in an article I was reading this morning caused me to take a closer look at what the Astros have been doing, and I just realized that at the moment they have NO veteran signed for next year : not one. (By "veteran", I mean a guy that has been through FA or has at least 6 years service time.) And only 8 guys will even be arb eligible (1 3rd arb, 3 2nd arb, 4 1st arb) - the other 15 youngsters currently on the team will be earning very close to league minimum. (*Yes, that adds up to 23 - there will be 2 FAs who might be leaving the team : Francisco Cordero, and Jed Lowrie.)

They are in massive rebuild mode : "super dooper" rebuild mode. It wasn't a "salary dump" per se. They sent a LOT of cash with the veterans they shipped off so they aren't saving much money at all this year. But they got what they wanted - lots of young talent. They got some talent for the majors and re-stocked their minors with all these trades. As it stands today, the Astros are committed to less than $20M in payroll for next season. So they have plenty of cash to bring in select FAs to build around while waiting for this talent to blossom, or they can stockpile money for a year and sign the FAs when they think they are ready for a run.

But what it means for US is that we should be VERY happy every time we play Houston this year .

 

[SFAnthem]

3 more games with them at the end of August. A Hou/Cubbies road trip to end the month. Then it's all NL West from there.

 

[msgkings322]

3 more games with them at the end of August. A Hou/Cubbies road trip to end the month. Then it's all NL West from there.

9 more vs AZ, 9 more vs LA

Houston will probably be crazy good in 3 years. Others have done the huge teardown (Detroit, AZ) and it takes a couple years after a 100 loss season but they usually blossom thereafter.

 

[SFGRTB]

Just last year, the Astros farm system was among the worst in baseball and they were locked into bad contracts like Lee and Rodriguez and then they had Pence and nothing else. Now they have a top-5 system, got rid of all their contracts and a horrid enough roster to get another number one pick next year lol.

They could be the next Tampa Bay in a few years, but they have to money to keep it all together.

 

[msgkings322]

Just last year, the Astros farm system was among the worst in baseball and they were locked into bad contracts like Lee and Rodriguez and then they had Pence and nothing else. Now they have a top-5 system, got rid of all their contracts and a horrid enough roster to get another number one pick next year lol.

They could be the next Tampa Bay in a few years, but they have to money to keep it all together.

Agreed, but I don't think our market and situation could handle a total teardown/buildback like that. Nor do we need one. Sabean does a B+ job given the constraints of our market. Too bad we now have to deal with Yankees West down in LA.

 

[calsnowskier]

Just last year, the Astros farm system was among the worst in baseball and they were locked into bad contracts like Lee and Rodriguez and then they had Pence and nothing else. Now they have a top-5 system, got rid of all their contracts and a horrid enough roster to get another number one pick next year lol.

They could be the next Tampa Bay in a few years, but they have to money to keep it all together.

They are in more of a KC situation then a TB situation. TB has to compete with Bos, NY and Tor in the AL East. Houston has to compete with AL West. Sure they have Texas and California (I still refuse to call them LA) and a pesky Oakland team. Houston could OWN that division in a few years...

 

[SFGRTB]

Agreed, but I don't think our market and situation could handle a total teardown/buildback like that. Nor do we need one. Sabean does a B+ job given the constraints of our market. Too bad we now have to deal with Yankees West down in LA.

Oh no way Sabean could have done that without losing the fanbase. Sabean and co. (can't give him all the credit, seems like the entire front office shares notes anyway, even the marketing guys) have done a phenomenal job re-tooling and competing at the same time, 2006-08 were bad but we got Lincecum, Posey and MadBum in that time...

And yes the very poorly run Dodgers down south should just be even more satisfying for Sabean because the Giants have more rings in the last 10 years than the Yankees do

 

[SFGRTB]

They are in more of a KC situation then a TB situation. TB has to compete with Bos, NY and Tor in the AL East. Houston has to compete with AL West. Sure they have Texas and California (I still refuse to call them LA) and a pesky Oakland team. Houston could OWN that division in a few years...

Texas is going to be a competitor for a very long tome IMO, they ain't going anywhere. And the Anaheim Angels, though to tell, they have serious payroll issues for the next 3-4 years ($92MM committed to 9 guys next year) but they have a lot of talent, and they have Mike Trout. If the A's keep this core together, they remind me of the pesky Padres (competing most years). Seattle, well they are a ways away.

In a few years though, there could be a serious rivalry between Arlington and Huston.

 

[SFAnthem]

Texas is going to be a competitor for a very long tome IMO, they ain't going anywhere. And the Anaheim Angels, though to tell, they have serious payroll issues for the next 3-4 years ($92MM committed to 9 guys next year) but they have a lot of talent, and they have Mike Trout. If the A's keep this core together, they remind me of the pesky Padres (competing most years). Seattle, well they are a ways away.

In a few years though, there could be a serious rivalry between Arlington and Huston.

I keep forgetting that Houston in going to the AL. It makes sense that they are tearing down their roster and rebuilding a different type roster. They are going to have to spend big bucks to keep up with Tex and LAA

 

[msgkings322]

Oh no way Sabean could have done that without losing the fanbase. Sabean and co. (can't give him all the credit, seems like the entire front office shares notes anyway, even the marketing guys) have done a phenomenal job re-tooling and competing at the same time, 2006-08 were bad but we got Lincecum, Posey and MadBum in that time...

And yes the very poorly run Dodgers down south should just be even more satisfying for Sabean because the Giants have more rings in the last 10 years than the Yankees do

Uh, no...same number.

 

[msgkings322]

I keep forgetting that Houston in going to the AL. It makes sense that they are tearing down their roster and rebuilding a different type roster. They are going to have to spend big bucks to keep up with Tex and LAA

And we are going to have to spend a lot to keep up with LA. It's an arms race everywhere.

 

[SFGRTB]

Uh, no...same number.

Fuck I forgot about 2009 lol... it was clouded by 2010

 

[SFAnthem]

And we are going to have to spend a lot to keep up with LA. It's an arms race everywhere.

All the more reason to hold onto the south bay rights

 

[msgkings322]

All the more reason to hold onto the south bay rights

Agreed

 

[SFAnthem]

Agreed

plus, Fuck the I's

 

[calsnowskier]

plus, Fuck the I's

Rep

 

[MarcoPolo]

Just last year, the Astros farm system was among the worst in baseball and they were locked into bad contracts like Lee and Rodriguez and then they had Pence and nothing else. Now they have a top-5 system, got rid of all their contracts and a horrid enough roster to get another number one pick next year lol.

They could be the next Tampa Bay in a few years, but they have to money to keep it all together.

They sucked enough last year to get pick #1 this year as well. Although the guys are gone, Houston is still paying for a lot of the guys no longer there (this year) and even next year they'll be paying for a lot of Wandy Rodriguez, I think. But they are basically starting completely over with the 2013 team. Next season might be a little early to start spending money, but they could sign a few "decent" inexpensive vets to work with the youngsters and show them how it's done, and prepare them for a big push in 2014-2018 timeframe.