The Astros sign Josh Banks (the post where you realize: what has my fan-life come to?)

The going-through-the-motions, treading-water “limbo” you describe is potentially scary, for sure. After reading Posnanski’s opus-post, the sobering thing to remember is that both Baird and Moore had better reps in the game prior to coming to KC than did Wade when he came to Houston (i.e., prior to the Phillies’ World Series triumph). Something about the institutional situation in KC seemed to cloud the judgment of both men after a while, and by a certain point, both seemed to be grasping at straws, just to “do something,” but with little discernible, overarching strategy in mind or strategic sense of purpose. It’s like a “nature vs. nurture” argument, and Posnanski seems to be saying that the highly regarded “nature” of Baird and Moore as “baseball men” got completely enervated by the “nurture” of their work environment. It brings to mind ideas like “institutional memory” and how new people cycle in, but the results end up the same regardless of how qualified the new people may be.

Another parallel is that Glass, like McLane, is a mercantile guy, with that same literal-minded, short-sighted “bottom-line” thinking that focuses more on the ledger sheet than on some overall strategic vision that could be designed to enhance the ledger sheet as a positive by-product or outcome if everything’s done right.

Ain’t good, especially if Wade can’t even talk/persuade/cajole McLane into letting him articulate a vision that we could at least BEGIN to work toward now (due to the current opportunities in the marketplace), in advance of the better situations of 2011-12, etc.

OTOH……we are not quite in the chronic financial straits of a smalll-market KC, and the budget here will truly get better once some of the current contracts slide off the books. Perhaps Wade believes that the bolder he tries to be, the more that will encourage McLane to meddle, and for the next year or two, he wants McLane not to get his juices going on some further free-agent boondoggles. If his going-through-the-motions tinkering influences McLane to lay back the next two years (sort of like behavior-modification therapy;-), then he will have a chance to succeed, as the budget gets less stifling and talent from the farm system starts to move up (hopefully).

The wild card is the economy and attendance. If Drayton doesn’t sell, and he loses too much money, then he could be back off the wagon, despite Wade’s patient efforts to modify Drayton’s behavior gradually/slowly.

If he is serious about selling, though, it will behoove him not to go on payroll-swelling benders between now and when a new majority owner is found, right?

Then the final irony for Wade could be “The Philadelphia Story, Part II,” as a new principal owner replaces Wade before the latter has the chance to do the sort of real roster tinkering he’s patiently building towards in the medium term, as big contracts mercifully go away.

OTOH, if the talent in our system (such as it may be) eventually pans out in a KC sort of way (uggh), he wouldn’t be around to take all the blame for that.

It will be interesting to see, but I fear I may be imputing waay too much deep strategic thinking into Wade’s head. If so, a KC-like scenario might evolve, but I don’t think it will be as deep and long-lasting as KC’s for the reasons adduced above. (Unless the talent isn’t nearly as talented as we hope—then all bets are off.)