But some of your opinions are ill-timed right now. Like this one:

Whatever the Astros think they’re doing, it’s stupid. They can’t compete this year, but they’re trying to do just that, mortgaging their future in the process. Ed Wade’s just the man for the job: an old school guy with a soft spot for relief pitchers. As a PR man who is knowledgeable enough to be able to piece together a roster but always does it clumsily, he’s one of the last of his kind in the GM business.

So the Astros can’t compete this year? Rather than just mouthing some blather, at least give some factual support for your statement. And the comment is ill-timed because the Astros would be the wild card team if the season ended right now, and they are a game out of the NL Central division lead. At the moment, many of Ed Wade’s 2008 acquisitions, which you pan, look pretty good. You say that Tejada was a bad acquisition because he can’t play shortstop anymore. But that’s not what the defensive metrics are saying so far this season (which I wrote about in an earlier article:
http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2008/4/29/469902/how-is-the-astros-defense#comments
I could go on and point out that the main prospect traded to Milwaukee (Patton) is out with arm surgery or that Adam Everett hasn’t played at 100% in the field this year.

But I like what I see from the Astros. Sure, some question marks exist about how well they can sustain their success…mostly regarding the direction of the rotation and whether some current slumping players (Bourn, Towles, and Wigginton) can hit better. I am fairly certain that we will continue to see improvement from Oswalt, and if the 2 of those 3 hitters break out of their slumps, then the team can withstand the inevitable cooling off of Berkman. I feel pretty comfortable that the Astros can stay in contention for much of the season, and I would say the Astros have a reasonable possibility (maybe not probable) of reaching the playoffs. Baseball Prospectus’ playoff odds put the Astros at 22% probability of making the playoffs. The BP ELO adjusted odds, reflecting strength of schedule (as I understand it) puts the Astros’ playoff odds at 40%. So I don’t think it’s ridiculous to believe that the Astros have a reasonable chance.