Carlos Lee: Gone With The Wind from 2010.
When it comes to their Opening Day 2013 starting lineup for the Houston Astros, the handful of possible repeat starters this year from 2012 are few. They include only Joel Castro, C; Jose Altuve, 2B; Marwin Gonzalez, SS; and J.D. Martinez, LF, as the only four holdover possibilities, with Castro and Altuve being the only strong (barring injury) starting repeat probabilities for 2013.
Go back two years to 2011 and Brett Wallace would need to start at first base to salvage the only possible returning starter from that season as a possible repeat in 2013.
Now go back to the Astros’ starting lineup for Opening Day 2010 and the possibility of repeat performers in 2013 slips all the way to the ghostly and gusty gone-with-the-wind level at .000. The 2010 starting Astros are now all either lost or gone forever from Houston – in all probability. Here is a brief “where they are now” look at the …
… 2010 Opening Day starting lineup for the 2010 Houston Astros:
1) Michael Bourn, CF: Dealt away to the Atlanta Braves in 2011, Bourn s now in spring training with his new club, the Cleveland Indians.
2) Kazuo Matsui, 2B: Matsui’s poor early performance in 2010 earned him a May release which quickly translated into his retirement from baseball, at least, on the American side of the really big pond.
3) Hunter Pence, RF: Traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011, Pence was again moved to the San Francisco Giants in 2012, giving him the opportunity to win a World Series ring with the 2012 World Champions, for whom he still plays.
4) Carlos Lee, LF: Dealt away to the Miami Marlins late in 2012, the veteran Lee remains in 2013 ST camp with the Marlins, hoping to catch on at a price that is more appealing to the Miami rebuilding plans.
5) Geoff Blum, 1B: Free agent Blum saw limited action with the 2011-12 Arizona Diamondbacks and then retired. He is now back in Houston in 2013 to work as the back up analyst for 2013 Astros game telecasts.
6) Pedro Feliz, 3B: After a poor 2010 start with the Astros, veteran Feliz was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals where he finished out what probably was his last season in the big leagues. Feliz continues in 2013 as an independent league ballplayer.
7) J.D. Towles, C: Towles performed poorly in 2010-11 and spent 2012 in the minors. He is set to again play minor league ball in 2013, but away from the Astros farm system.
8) Tommy Manzella, SS: Manzella had bat problems in 2010 and spent 2011-12 back in the minors.He will also play minor league ball outside the Astros system in 2013.
9) Roy Oswalt, P: The former Astros great is overwhelmed with arm injury and run support problems with the Astros in 2010. He is traded to the Philadelphia Phillies before season’s end, but his problems continue in Philly after a 7-1 2010 new club start makes it first appear that he is OK. Following a mediocre, arm-plagued season with the Phillies, Oswalt is released, only to sign with the Texas Rangers for limited action and mediocre results in 2012. Oswalt is in ST with Texas again in 2012, just hoping to salvage his fast-fading options as a big league pitcher.
The 2013 Astros may be fighting an uphill talent battle, but, at least, they will be doing it with young players who have some considerable upsides as career MLB prospects. The same certainly cannot be said for the starting nine from that 2010 Opening Day. Other than Bourn and Pence, and their windows were peaking in 2010 at a time they needed others around them to help them win, there was no future for the club that was taking the field to start that season.
Hindsight is wonderful. Foresight is hopeful. Reality is – play the games and let’s see what happens, always trying to change things as we learn more about the things we need to change. Our real hope is vested in our ability to learn from our mistakes and make the adjustments we need to make for putting constructive change in motion.
Have a nice Sunday, everybody! If what you’re doing today feels good, but doesn’t threaten the health of anyone or your own status with the law, don’t change a thing. Keep it up.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
March 3, 2013 at 3:14 pm |
What the Astros really need is for some of their young players to develop into good potential or real All Stars. THEN the club has to have enough money to sign them and keep them. The Tampa Bay and/or Oakland comparison we hear so often is not good enough. The Astros have to keep the good young players they develop. They can’t keep them until they are elibible for free agency and then lose them claiming they can’t afford them any longer. Neither Oakland nor Tampa Bay have won a World Series since either the moneyball or build from within philosophies were put in place. That IS supposed to be the goal isn’t it?
March 3, 2013 at 3:43 pm |
Greg:
I could not agree more. For this plan to work, the Astros must (1) be willing to keep the young players that develop into personnel who are essential to winning, even after they enter into their salary negotiating power years: and (2) the club must continue to operate a full-pipe farm system that isn’t afraid to trade marginal players for younger prospects or high draft choices before the rest of the world has a full read on the limitations of those players we trade away.
I know that second point is a tough poker-hand job for someone in the Astros system, but it was a skill that a fellow named Branch Rickey put forth as important long before the baseball planet ever heard of Billy Bean.
March 3, 2013 at 11:56 pm |
I think the status of the recent Astros after they left the team serves to reflect the true nature of the club prior to all the trading and rebuilding. Hunter Pence is probably the only one who could still be called an asset to help the current club. I loved Bourn and still think he’s the best OFer I’ve ever seen in person, but he would be a luxury that only a contending club could truly afford. (I think Cleveland may be in the state of denial that the Astros were in a few years ago.)
Here’s hoping the Astros can improve the 90% part of the game as Yogi said which is the other half of the game: pitching.
March 4, 2013 at 5:20 am |
And Van Lingle Mungo and Urban Shocker. Love those names too. Lou Gehrig and Jeff Bagwell also appeal to me as good baseball names.