Felipe Paulino, what will become of you?

Uncle Drayton needs some money. Well, he sort of needs some money. Ok, fine: he needs money like Michael Bourn needs to work on his baserunning. That being said, why isn't he going to spend some of that cash on improving our Astros? To Dickie J, it all boils down to:

Drayton understands that businesses must operate within their means. If one of his businesses starts operating at a loss, it could begin a downhill slide.

You know who also thinks along those same lines? Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Not that I can speak for billionaires, but I guess I really don't understand why someone would own a team in order to make money. Yes, one can never have enough of the green stuff...but aren't there other more profitable ventures a man (or woman) of means can engage in to increase their bank accounts? Sitting in a half empty MMP on the day after the Home Opener most likely won't please our owner. So maybe those extra millions will be of some consolation.

Sidenote: I think I'm going to refer to Drayton McLane as simply, "Dray" from now on. Sounds better, it's shorter, and it makes me chuckle a little when I think of calling him that.

Miggy Tejada is awesome. Not so much at baseball anymore, but at motivating. The latest recipient of his positive outlook on life is one Felipe Paulino:

"He showed today how good he can be in the future for this team," Tejada said of Paulino. "I think he's going to be learning how to pitch. By the power that he has in his arm, I think he just needs to learn how to pitch and learn how to pitch in the big leagues. I think that kid is going to be like (Justin) Verlander or (Zach) Greinke later on his career because he throws. He just needs to learn how make the location like the way he did today."

I'd settle for him being Brad Penny circa 2004, but Verlander or Greinke wouldn't be bad I guess. In all seriousness though, what should we make of Felipe Paulino? Fangraphs had an idea last week, which was fairly praiseworthy of the young right hander. Anderson seems to wonder if the Astros are going to give Felipe the opportunity to continue to grow into the starter's role in 2010, or would they relegate him to the bullpen where his power stuff may be better suited. With Wes Wright slated to compete for a starting slot next season, I wouldn't worry about Paulino not being given a chance to continue honing his craft.

The most comparable player to Felipe Paulino, says Baseball Prospectus, is Jesus Colome in his 2003 season. It's a not a pretty comparison for Astros fans, but hopefully Felipe can muster stronger seasons in his mid to late 20s than did Colome.