Bottom line, Houston is the 4th largest city in the US, but the Astros have the 14 highest payroll in MLB. I am certainly not saying we need to spend Yankee, Mets, or Red Sox money, but make the absolute most of the $100-120 million you are looking to spend.
1.Do you know the game "Good Idea/Bad Idea"?
Using 15 million a year on Mike Hampton - BAD IDEA. I loved Mike Hampton....... In 1999. What has he done over the last decade to warrant being paid the highest salary in the clubhouse? Mike, please talk to whatever personal trainer/clubhouse attendant/BALCO employee, and get yourself a 9-month supply of the good stuff. The cream, the clear, whatever. You are going to need a dump truck of flax seed oil to earn 15 million this season.
2. Offensively the potential is there. Berkman and Lee are in the twilight of their prime, Pence is the future of the franchise, Matsui and Bourn are baseball players and will come around. What the Astros need is just one solid free agent bat. The type of signing that immediately establishes a buzz for Astro baseball outside of the 610 freeway. But is cannot be Mike Hampton.
3. Help out your no. 1 starter. Oswalt has the potential to be a league wide top 5 pitcher. But we will never see that type of production as long as the rest of the Astro rotation plummets in quality after Roy. As a rule of thumb, try to compare the Astro #2-4 starters to other clubs, where would they pitch? The answer, #5 or AAA. What is the one glaring deficiency from our recent playoff teams? Great pitching #1-3 and good pitching #4-5. It was not a coincidence, talk to the Braves… before Mike Hampton got there.
This is a great team, with ownership that seems to love the team about half as much as the fans of Houston do. No matter what, I will still watch and root for my Astros, even if Mike Hampton is there.
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Good news! Mike Hampton has returned to Florida to rejoin the team. If you didn't know, he went back to Houston earlier in the week because of an irregular heartbeat. I guess he was reading about how unexcited people are about his return....
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