It's probably also hard for the owner to pay millions to a player and then have that player publicly gripe about the owner.
I don't have a problem with anyting he said. I just hope he is not serious about pitching in St Louis because that would be a nightmare from an Astros standpoint. They already have to deal with Rollen,Jimmy,and Albert then throw in Billy to close it out would be sick.
but we'd be scoring 9 runs on their weak starting rotation, so i'm not sure he'd be getting many save appearances against the 'stros.
9 runs may not be enough with that St Louis offense. They might have the best middle lineup in baseball. Last year it was Atlanta hands down with (Jones,Jones,Shef, and Javy).
the cardinals had the same lineup last season and finished 3rd...meanwhile the cubs and 'stros have made improvements from last year, and the cards have stood pat.
You guys think Billy sounds like an idiot now, wait untill he stinks it up this year on the feild. His new nickname is going to be Billy "The Skid" mark Wagner.
I agree that the pitching is much better than St Louis but I think the Cards offense is much better than Chicago and can go neck and neck with the Astros.
I'm with you in this issue. Everything Billy said at the times he opened his (big) mouth were the exact same thing most of us were thinking. I even agreed with the fact when he said the fans didn't know when to cheer or not at games. Anyone who's gone to baseball or basketball games in another city would probably agree. We did have a stingy billionare owner who just kept us competitive. We were always one starting pitcher away from the postseason. What happened to the new stadium bringing us a championship? The only thing it brought me was 8 dollar beers! We lucked out this off season only because Andy Pettite wanted to come home and made it clear. Nobody at the time knew that meant we'd get Clemens too. But don't be suprised if you see Wade miller let go when he becomes a free agent. Now is the best chance we've had since 1998 or 99, not sure.
No, we have a business that requires staying within the budget that the revenues dictate. Spend more than you make, and eventually you get into trouble, especially since spending money is no guarantee of success. The Rangers have overspent for years and appear to be hopelessly mired in last place now. The D'Backs overextended and now have $270 million in deferred salaries for players that don't even play for them anymore. Sure, they got a World Series out it, but they're potentially looking at a decade or so of last place finishes. McLane spends essentially every dollar that comes in on the team. He's gone years where he spent more than the team brought in, and the Astros have been very successful on the field during the regular season. Fix the revenue imbalances, and I'll guarantee the Astros spending will be near the top of the League every time, but until the team can make more money, you can't expect any owner to go have the business go into debt year after year after year. Of course, if the Astros had added payroll, gone into debt and that player didn't perform, there'd still be b****ing about Drayton being a cheapskate. You know, if adding a pitcher is all it would've taken, I'm sure Tom Hicks would've given up Chan Ho Park. If only Drayton was more like Tom Hicks, the Astros would be hoisting the World Series trophy every year.
If you wanna talk about a stingy owner, look no further than Carl Polhard. Drayton has gone out time after time and got us a big name player, whether it's Johnson, Alou, kent or Pettitte. Billy Wagner voiced his displeasure over Larry Dierker a few years back and now he's bitter at McLane. I say good riddance. Enjoy your time with Larry Bowa.
Rediculous statement by Wags. He claimed he would take a paycut to pitch for Jimmy?! Well why didn't he do that earlier?!
Sorry, but his speak was OK. Why get lathered over this? Billy Wags was a great pitcher for Houston, and represented well. For one, I wish he were still here.
Because of several things. 1) His contract negotiations(I'm an elite closer, give me elite closer money and screw the rest) 2) His then grousing about the Astros not making more moves, when the enormously overpaid self was one of the main reasons we couldn't make a move. 3) "We weren't really expected to be a contender for the playoffs, so were not too dissapointed we didn't make it" then like two days later "We were really dissapointed we didn't make a move because we were contenders" . . . . which is it Billy? 4) He gets traded, primarily because his contract vastly outstrips his value. 5) He overreacts and then takes shots back at Houston, a team which put up with his inablility to develop a second pitch, and his grousing about a big contract, acquiesced to his contract demands and put up with his inadequacies as a closer - then when they moved him - he acts like a whiny b****. Why is it so wrong to call a whiny b**** a whiny b****?
Since baseball owners never open their books to show fans how much they're really making(or losing), it's hard to take their whinings without a grain of salt. What I'm seeing is that baseball franchises' worth have risen year after year. I see people buying teams at higher and higher prices. I see many, many new stadiums being built by tax payers' money only to see the revenues generated going into these owners' pocketbooks. Let's face it, MLB is a VERY PROFITABLE business. No matter what Bud Selig says. I'm not saying that owners aren't allowed to make profits. It's their team, after all. But just don't cry poor while raking things in. It's one thing for McLane to be fiscally tight back in the Astrodome, but DEFINITELY not now at Minute Maid Park.
I guess we respectfully disagree about most of this. Wags has been an elite closer and his comments at the end of the season were spot on, IMO. Is he overpaid? It seems his performance was elite status so based on baseball economics he should have been compensated very well, and was. I would take a team of 25 guys who performed at his relative level, and with his end of tenure comments.
But he's not being fiscally tight. Based on all the public information available about how much the team makes coupled with educated guesses made by those who know, the Astros spend what they make. Absent official numbers, I'm willing to trust that Forbes numbers are pretty close to reality. And they estimate that the Astros routinely spend pretty close to what they make. You talk about Drayton whining, but he doesn't. He doesn't cry poverty. He sets a budget and sticks to it. The fans whine about him not spending enough money, and he may defend himself from that. But the whiners in this situation (since the new stadium at least) are the fans who pull numbers out of the air think those are the real numbers. "They've got to be making big money. I just feel it. Everyone who's in the know disputes that, but I know different." It's always interesting to me that Forbes, who spends time and effort investigating these things to make their best guess on revenues and expenses, etc. are not trusted at all to go with the gut feeling most people have that the Astros (and other teams) make significantly more money than they claim. As for the ever-increasing values of teams. That does have a potential end. Not to mention that to make fans happy, the Astros would potentially have to add another $15 million to $30 million in payroll per year. Franchise values usually aren't increasing that quickly. Drayton got in long enough ago that the price he paid was relatively low, and the new stadium does add value to the team. But it's still ridiculous to require an owner to take losses every year on the hope that they'll make that money back when they sell the team at some far-off future date. Especially since there's no guarantee that the team will be any better even with an additional $15 million in payroll.
