18 days later, Astros owner, Drayton McLane, still doesn't get it

But it was a noble attempt.

Astros: “Two years with a team option.”
Acta: “That sounds cool, but let me see what the Indians say.”
Indians: “Three years with a team option.”
Acta: “Gee, that’s a lot better…”
Astros: “Well, let’s talk to Drayton and see if he’ll give you another year.”
Drayton: “NOW WAIT JUST A COTTON-PICKIN MINUTE I AIN’T SPENDIN’ NO MORE MONEY ON THIS HERE MANAGER IT’S TWO YEARS OR NOTHIN’ IMMA CHAMPION”

If you believe Justice, Tal Smith was one of the people pushing Acta in the front office.

That should probably have been more explicit.

Yes, I am likely just doing that overly cliché thing were fans lambast their owners after a poor season. But i also did this at the end of 2008, and that was good season.

I get that it’s Drayton’s money, and they he can shore it up how ever he wants to, but he’s not doing a good job of it. ROI? Attendance was the worst it’s been in years? Advertising bucks are down, and there’s no reason to invest in advertising for a team that’s bad. Drayton lost money this year, it seems like, and will likely lose it next year, too.

My critique above, and always, of Drayton McLane has never been that he doesn’t spend money, but that he doesn’t spend it well. I know I have no control over how he choses to spend it, but I don’t think that makes it unfair of me to wish that he’d spend it wisely.

He has meddled in baseball operations too many times in the last few years regarding how much, and upon whom, money will be spent, and it’s blowing up in face. We have zero room for investing in pitching if he keeps drawing the line on payroll where it’s at. Even if you gave this pitching staff to Manzone, I doubt he’d have gotten much out of Hampton, Ortiz, and Moehler, so what’s the point in deflecting all the criticism towards Robinson, et al.?

As for the bullpen, I blame Coop for that this year.

This is not to say that there aren’t other areas of our baseball operations that shouldn’t have criticisms hurled at them, but that they’re ancillary to this, the largest road block to the Astros success.

I just realized what a bone-headed error I made. 18 days later.

The Astros did not have the highest payroll in the NL in 2006; the Mets, Dodgers, Cubs were higher. Here is a link.

Astros did not increase ticket prices in 2009. And the 2010 rates will be the same as the 2008 rates as well.

Also, if memory serves me correctly, in better economic times, Oswalt and Berkman’s contracts were considered good deals. Someone else might remember better though.

All of this definitely could be a huge misperception of how Drayton actually conducts himself. The thing is, though, I doubt it.

I blame Coop for terrible bullpen management, no one made him make the decisions he made. I blame Coop for terrible base running strategies, obsessive over realiance on platooning, and other strategic blunders that hamstrung the Astros in 2008, 2009. Sure, he didn’t much to work with, but he played his hand about as poorly as he could have. He alienated the clubhouse. He had Roy Oswalt miffed with him two seasons straight. He botched Ortiz and Paulino. There’s just not much that you can say for Coop’s managerial tenure that is positive.

Berkman and Oswalt’s extensions came before Carlos Lee’s signing, but I think it’s pertinent to remember that Oswalt’s extension came after we pissed him off by aggressively pushing him at the ’06 trade deadline. Somehow, though, we managed to get a ridiculously below market rate on both of them and their contracts have been Godsends.

Great, we locked up two guys from our system. My point in this article is that Drayton has learned very little about FA signings. By all accounts him seems to push for these signings at times he feels like the Astros are one cog in the wheel away from being a champion. These, historically, have rarely been worthwhile. Sure, blame should be leveled on the GM’s and Tal Smith, but at the end of the day, Drayton cuts their checks, and, as is widely reported, is too involved in their decision making process.

Ticket prices, in my opinion, declined due to the economy and a genuinely subpar on field product. The on the field product suffers because Drayton refuses to authorize any kind of rebuilding process (probably because he refused to invest in the farm system for a number of years in the middle of this decade) and persists in the belief that this club is “champion” quality. There’s a genuine disconnect with the reality of the situation and the actions he takes.

Refusing to go one more year on Acta, manager who seemed like he’d be perfect for helping the Astros transition in the next 2-3 years, is absurd. This isn’t the most egregious of Drayton’s boneheaded moves, but it’s the latest one. It’s a symptom of a larger problem that Drayton refuses to adapt from the team he owned from 1993 through 2005. He seems to persist in the belief that somehow, someway things are going to turn out differently.

Tal Smith wanted Acta. I imagine Tal Smith keeps telling Drayton, “Starting pitching,” until he loses his voice. Like the quote AstrosAndy has from Neyer below: if Drayton doesn’t even trust Tal Smith anymore, why does he still employ him?

I’d also like to add that you have a manager who really wants to manage your team, and some how they manage to screw it up.