I have been reading some unfair assessments of Carlos Lee in this forum. And I'm guilty also and I have been wrong.

Now obviously everyone is welcome to their opinion and this year Carlos has started bad. But some have said he's been bad for a couple of year now. That is NOT accurate. Last year; .300avg/26HR/102RBI/.343OBP/.831OPS. Those are not bad numbers. He was arguably the best offensive player we had in 2009. Granted he's not going to chase down many in the outfield and if he dives I'm not sure what small country be affected by the earthquake; but this is not a bad player.

Carlos is 34; most players start the decline around this point in their career.......unless there is a "chemical" enhancement to "correct" this problem. This may be the beginning of the end for him. But; no one can say for sure that it's not just a long slump to start the season. Even if it is the beginning of the end; this stuff happens. Anyone want to say Biggio was at the top of his game in his last (I'll be nice) 2 years? That would be foolish. Players get older and the really good ones sign big, multi-year deals that will take them to the end of their careers. Carlos gave us 3 quality years and now; to pay for those, we get the last three years of a very good career. The last three probably won't be as good as the first three. Is it Carlos' fault? Do we blame him for getting older??

I believe the bitterness towards Carlos is that in his 3 good years we didn't see the playoffs. Is that his fault?? Or is that Drayton Mclane and Tim Pupura's fault for not bringing in pitching and signing our draft picks. Don't blame Carlos for front office failures.

Since becoming an Astro Carlos Lee's three year average stats are .306/29HR/107RBI. We would take that from Lee, Berkman or Pence any year. Yes; he's off to a bad start, but let's consider his past history and hold off on the firing squad just a little bit longer.