I know that with the horror that is the Houston Texans, many of you have forgotten that the horror that is the Houston Astros is still playing games. Yep, they still have four more chances to lose this season.
Several weeks ago, with the team limping toward the finish line, several of the team’s so-called minor league prospects were brought up to the club as part of the September roster expansion, and the story that everyone was told was that these so-called kids would get a chance to play so that it would be seen if they actually had any ability to play in the majors.
Only the Astros changed their mind and decided that Miguel Tejada’s quest for 200 hits in a season was more important than anything else. And Chris Johnson didn’t get to play at third base because Geoff Blum’s quest for a contract with another team next season is more important than the Astros future.
Don’t believe me? Well, just check out the statements of Ed Wade and Dave Clark. And seeing as how Craig Biggio’s quest for 3,000 hits took precedent over finding out if Chris Burke was worthy of a major league roster spot in 2007, then I’m guessing that Drayton McLane is okay with it as well.
The Houston Chronicle‘s Jose de Jesus Ortiz argues that Tejada deserves
this because he’s such a great clubhouse leader who does things the right way — well, except for the whole lying-to-Congress thing, and the whole lying-about his-age thing, and the whole
taking-HGH thing. But hey, if Tejada was really the
world’s greatest leader, wouldn’t he really care more about his
teammates than about his quest?
It’s bad enough that Chris Johnson has to sit so that Geoff Blum, a guy
who defines mediocrity, can try to bilk another major league team out
of several million dollars, but Tommy Manzella, who might or might not
be good, has to sit so that the World’s Greatest Leader can also try to scam a couple of million dollars from some unsuspecting fool of a
baseball-team owner. Speaking of which, Mr. McLane, Miguel Tejada’s
agent is on the phone. He wants to speak to you about a contract for
next season.
You know, if the Astros were actually winning some games, I might
halfway buy into the necessity of Tejada and Blum playing, but the
thing is, the Astros aren’t winning. After last night’s shocking defeat
to the Philadelphia Phillies — shocking only in that the Astros, at
one point, actually had a lead in the game — the Astros ended the
month of September by going 10-17 and 3-7 for their last 10 games. In a
large majority of those losses, the Astros have been blown out. So just
what has been accomplished by playing Tejada and Blum except for
inflating their stats?
Manzella and Johnson might stink. They might not be able to play in the
major leagues on a consistent basis. But wouldn’t it be better to learn
that this season than to go into next season with them inserted into
the starting lineup only to discover it then?
Of course, as we learned
with Chris Burke, the Astros’ way is to wait until it’s too late. Which
is why, come next season, the Astros are going to suck. Again.
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2009.
