can't wait too long

we'll actually probably definitely have to wait for a while for the houston astros to be competitive. that's right. 2013 will be another 100 loss season. 2014 might be as well. but all is not lost. my main complaint about the waning days of the drayton mcclain era (2005-2011) was that there was no plan. if winning the world series was the objective, signing preston wilson, woody williams, kaz matsui and pedro feliz with a barren farm system was not going to get the job done. unfortunately for our long-term growth, we overachieved in 2006 (finishing 1 1/2 games out of first place in a weak division) and 2008 (finishing 3 1/2 games out of the wild card). that says a lot about those teams and the players we had. but those seasons convinced drayton mcclain that rebuilding was unnecessary as we were only a few games away from being that late 90s early 00s playoff team again.

that reality was untrue. the long astros decline actually began towards the end of our incredible playoff run (making 6 appearances from 97-05). the farm system was not producing quality major players anymore. the players we thought might be long term additions to the team (everett, ensberg, lane, burke) turned out to be 2-3 year stop gap players. as i noted above, we tried to keep the playoff run alive by signing overpaid veteran players, including the most ridiculous contract for carlos lee.

also during this time, we changed general managers. this change could be looked at as the moment the decline took on an accelerated pace. although gerry hunsicker had not adequately kept the farm system productive, part of this could be attributed to drayton mcclain who refused to pay out of slot for draft picks. but the hiring of tim purpura was a disaster. anyone remember the jason jennings trade?

these events (hunsicker's departure, the barren farm system, overpaid veteran players) left the franchise in disarray. add to this the reluctance to trade players while they were still producing and receiving promising prospects, the franchise was set adrift. when jim crane bought the franchise and hired jeff ludlow as general manager, the real rebuilding began.

and it's been ugly. ugly but necessary. as evidenced by monday's trade of jed lowrie, we are still rebuilding. we received three quality prospects for lowrie. astros fans may be upset to trade a quality player like lowrie, but the trade made perfect sense. we are not going to contend this year or next. lowrie was at his peak trade potential and it was time to pull the trigger and get something long-term. because long-term is where we're thinking. i like ludlow's plan. it's extremely painful in the short run but the idea is to think long-term even if it hurts in the meantime. i want the astros to be a smart, efficient, dynamic franchise. we will get there. but the sins of the past must be atoned for before we get back. we're halfway there astros fans. keep the faith. start to embrace the names of singleton, correa, springer, cosart, deshields and mccullers. these could be the names that return us to prominence. we'll just have to wait and see.