Ed Wade and the Astros' busy week: How would you grade it?

The offense and bullpen most likely got worse. My biggest concern probably is the offense’s ability to score runs. The bullpen is likely to be worse because the Astros lost Valverde. However, these deficiencies were likely to occur, under any circumstances, when the owner tells you to reduce the budget by $10 million.

While I think Feliz is an acceptable signing in the context of the in-house alternatives, he provides mostly defensive improvment, but doesn’t add as much to the offense as the Astros need. However, at the time Wade made the signing, there were very few 3d base options in the market which would provide a significant upgrade over Feliz offensively. Beltre was the best 3d baseman available, but he would have provided only marginal improvement over Feliz’s offense—and he probably requires a multi-year contract at a price up to $5 million/year higher. Tejada was probably the best offensive option available, but Wade apparently dismissed the possibility of re-signing him due to his demand for a multi-year contract. I could second-guess Wade and say he should have waited out Tejada to see if he would lower his demands if he remains on the market well into January or February. Wade will be criticized if Tejada eventually signs a low cost contract for only 1 or 2 years. Other options for more offense, such as DeRosa, Branyan, Glaus, have significant defensive question marks, up to and including whether they can feasibly play third base as a starter at this point.

We’ve talked about the bullpen decisions a lot, and clearly it is a downgrade any time you lose Valverde. I’m not overly worried about the bullpen, though. Lyon is a quality pitcher and Lindstrom has a decent chance of upside in the closer position; when you add them to some younger guys with upside (Gervacio, Fulchino, Arias, Sampson), I think there are some quality pieces for Mills and Arnsberg to move around and work with. The overpay for Lyon probably was necessary, in Wade’s mind, in order to be comfortable with taking a high upside risk with Lindstrom.

I think Wade reached the conclusion that the starting pitching costs are beyond the Astros’ means. The signings so far confirm that conclusion. Penny was overpaid. He isn’t worth 2 years at $7.5 million. Wolf at 3 years and $10 M/year is a huge risk —-one that the Brewers may regret badly in a year or two. However, I do think that the Rangers’ deal with Harden isn’t that bad, and I wouldn’t mind if the Astros had entered into a contract like that with him. Wade may wait things out to see if an injury risk type player is available at a very cheap cost.

Overall, Wade earns a C+ based on the budget circumstances he is trying to deal with. But it is fairly clear that he opted for certainty/stability, with some premium involved. I think that is the story behind the Lyon and Feliz signings. As it stands, the offense will probably struggle badly. But I will give Wade credit for an apparent plan of improving the defense, which sometimes is the cheapest way to improve the pitching.

I think he could waited to make some moves, Juan Cruz last year was a very good pitcher that didn’t sign for late and was relatively cheap at $2.25mil. Signing Lyons was a bit premature, not to mention overpaid, but it does provide some insurance at the closer position. The thing that bothers me though is this is the exact same deal given to Matsui, and that deal is considered one his worst moves.

Lindstrom was by far his best move, and Feliz is somewhere in between Lyon and Lindstrom. I also took into account Wades track record of taking a lot of criticism initial, and later making people eat their own words. All that being said GM’s aren’t going to have perfect records if Matsui and possibly Lyons are his worst moves the Astros aren’t all that bad off, especially with rebuilding the farm system being the main focus.