No, that’s not sarcastic.

The only player we got in his trades to the Phils who is/was any good is Michael Bourn – and Geoff Geary, who was good for a year before he got hurt. Roy-O got us J Happ (who is crappy) and Brett Wallace (who doesn’t look as if his swing is gonna hit ML pitching) and Jonathan Vilar, who can’t hit minor league pitching – don’t ask me why he’s “the second baseman/SS of the future. Pence PLUS money went for Jarred Cosart (age 21 – lowish hits, low K, middling walks for a starter), Jonathan Singleton (a 20 yo 1B in A ball with an .850 OPS – higher at Lancaster, but everyone but Jiovanni Mier hits there) and Josh Zeid (crappy 24 year old reliever at AA).

I’ve been looking at Dan Szymborski’s 2012 ZIPS projections for the Astros and it is beyond bad. The only 2 players he predicts to have an OPS+ over 100 are Clank and JD Martinez. The only 2 starts he predicts to be over league average are Wandy and Bud Norris and Wandy is gonna be gone – the line of teams who want him include everyone except the Rays and Braves, who are pitching heavy, and the cheapos – I mean, “rebuilders.”

We know that to start the year, we’ll have Mary Jane Schafer in CF, JD Martinez in left, Jed Lowrie at SS, Clank at 1B (unless Luhnow can dump him), Jose Altuve at 2B and Jimmy Paredes at 3B – unless he gets hurt – CJ is toast, unless he kills the ball in ST and Paredes doesn’t hit at all.

We’ll have some sort of platoon in right and center with Jack Shuck, Brian Bogusevic and Jason Bourgeois.

Jason Castro is hurt again – he’s having a bone taken out of his foot – his right foot – the same leg which has the bad knee. It’s the same operation Jeff Keppinger had last year. So we have Quintero – who, with his 1 mill/year salary, is the 6th highest paid person on the team. And then Craig Tatum and Robinson Cancel, who are so bad that they make poor ol Towlsie-poo look like Piazza. Chris Wallace is having trouble hitting AA pitching. Of course, the fact that he outhit Castro at that level doesn’t mean a thing because Castro is still, far as I can tell, Mr. Golden Boy.

Only 3 good things I can think of are

1 – John Sickels, who is a tough guy to impress, thinks that Altuve is GOOD, and that he’s the real deal. 2 of my internet pals, who are very knowledgeable about the minors, agree.

2 – several of my internet pals, who have seen a lot of ballplayers come and go, all think that JD Martinez looks good.

3 – Bogu just may get a good opportunity to start and yeah, it IS a late start, but I sure would like to see SOMEone who was an Original Astros pick succeed besides Bud Norris.

I wonder if this year’s team is even gonna get 40 wins. I said that last year, but this year, I have a feeling it is gonna be close.

Not exactly any surprise. The Rays released the following official statement: “Andrew chose not to be a part of the Astros’ process. It is in no way a reflection on the Houston organization.”

Right.

It’s like when you break up and you tell the hapless partner – it’s not you, it’s meeeeee. Really. But we can still be friends. Oh, the phone block – that’s just an accident. And that hot person you’ve been seeing me with is, uh, just a friend. Yeah, just a friend.

Anyone with any good Organization and any sense has turned down the Astros. Even Kim Ng has turned em down. It is true that Jeff Luhnow of the Cards is interviewing, but this is not surprising to me as I have heard for a few years that he and Mozeliak are, uh, different.

Fact is that unless you have unbelieveable luck (see the Rangers with the Teixiera trade), that a team with no solid major leaguers and no good minor leaguers and an owner who wants a MLB low payroll is going nowheres.

And speaking of solid major leaguers, Wandy has seen his last day in an Astros uni. Crane wants him gone (even the syncophants in the media are now chanting the mantra) and I would guess he’ll be traded as soon as Wilson and Buerhle are signed, unless, for some reason, Crane decides he’d just rather have the salary relief as Wandy is, believe it or not, cheap at the price he will be paid.

He also wants Lyon, Myers and Clank gone, and is willing to eat a good chunk of dough to get rid of them. I’ve suspected this for a LONG time, and I have received confirmation from some people at the Dallas meeting. We’ll see what the Stros manage to grab from the Rule V. The Josh Hamiltons are the exception, not the Rule.

sigh

This is really really depressing. I had to drive past the silent Minute Maid park yesterday – started crying, had to pull off at Tuam – couldn’t concentrate.

It’s just as well that despite my best efforts, my kids have no interest in baseball.