Boycot the Astros

[astros1981]

I'm a Hispanic and I will say that the signing of Pena didn't have any impact on how I felt about the acquisition. I didn't cheer because they signed a Hispanic and I'm sure a lot of other Hispanics can argue the same sentiment.

I'm glad we didn't sign Berkman! Are we the only team in the AL that needs a DH? There is a reason he isn't on a roster right now. He had health concerns that aren't worth the risk to signing him to a new deal.

I may not be too ecstatic about the ML level if talent but players like Singleton, Springer, Cosart among a few players in our farm system have me excited in the direction we're going.

[datboyb]

I think it is unfair to call Crane cheap when he hasn't had a chance to sign anybody. From day one, Crane said they were building this team through the farm and baseball isn't like basketball where you get 2 big contracts and win, you have to start from the bottom up and sign the missing piece when you are ready.

[Dudski]

One reason a boycot won't work is baseball is different things to different people. Out of the 19,000 fans a night who went to game last season there probably weren't but 6,000 or so who are hardcore fans who care about the quality of the product on the field. Most people go to games just for a night out.

It's true the Astros probably drove away another 10,000 true baseball fans by blowing up the team, but as long as there are 1.6 million "enablers" out there the math works for what the team is doing. If they got attendance up to 3 million it would only be worth another $44 million and they are saving $70 million or more by putting a AAA team on the field and charging fans to see major league baseball.

The danger, though, for the Astros is there is no guarantee the youth movement is going to work anytime soon. In fact, the players the Astros have traded for aren't that impressive. Time and again they traded major league talent not for other team's best prospects but for players who might make the majors but probably won't contribute all that much. Hard as it is to imagine, things could actually get even worse than last year. In that case the brand is damaged, TV revenues will decline, and attendance might bottom out around 1.3 million.

What I really dislike about the Astros approach is the assumption there was no alternative. Not every veteran should have been kept, but intelligent decisions could have been made which would have lessened the payroll but kept a reasonable core. The road back would have been shorter and fans wouldn't have been ripped off. To pretend there is a baseball reason for the fire sale is just not reasonable. The most logical reason was simply to allow an underfunded new owner who was willing to move to the American League to get the team on the cheap.

Bottom line, there won't be an organized boycot, but there's a good chance ownership will drive away even more fans not just in 2013 but for years to come by putting an inferior product on the field.

[The 6-4-3]

I think it was a rumor but I read that they're changing the center field hill/pole.

Any truth?

[eTEXball86]

Berkman has already said he doesnt want to sign with the stros because it is a completley different team than when he left. He will more than likely call it quits and take some sort of coaching job at Rice.

[tripleplay2007]

I think it was a rumor but I read that they're changing the center field hill/pole.

Any truth?

They need to before someone dies lol.

[astrosmaniac]

they didn't sign pena because he's hispanic. they signed him for veteran leadership, defense at first base (im not so sure hes just going to DH), power (had 19 HR despite playing in TB which surpresses power. 2 years ago in CHI, similar park factors to houston, he had like 28), and OBP. despite having a horrendous average, his OBP is still pretty good.

[tr3ymill3r]

Berkman signs with the Rangers. I bet he doesn't play 50 games.