The Disparity is Painful

The current state of the Houston Astros compared to the Texas Rangers or for that matter most teams in baseball is almost painful to watch. The club is lacking in so many areas for perhaps almost as many reasons fans are having a real hard time really caring.

And it is only mid June!

The pattern for the club was set early on and offensively has barely changed. The club just does not have good major league hitters. In recent games the pitching has fallen off the level demonstrated early on and the team is just not a good one. Unless the same players turn things around there is not much hope for major improvement this season. Oh, GM Ed Wade will ultimately elevate some players from the minor leagues, trade or release some others and make other alterations in the roster.

He can't make enough in one season to make this particular club a contender. Heading back to the level that the vast majority of the Drayton McLane, Jr. ownership era has been--among the contenders-- is not going to be an over night thing. The big push has begun with an upgrading of the scouting staff and acquiring talented young players through the draft. Hopefully, a fully stocked system will again provide top flight talent. It will take at least a couple of years before the efforts of the scouting and development staff start to show in bulk on the big league club.

Fans WILL see Jason Castro and Chris Johnson sometime this year. They may see Ozzie Navarro for a longer period, too. And there will be some pitching changes whether vacancies are created by the dealing of Roy Oswalt, Brett Myers and Matt Lindstrom or not.

If any of those "arms" are traded you can be sure the Astros will be looking for high level prospects in return.

There are still a lot of baseball fans in Houston that were born during the glory years from about 1994 thru 2007 with the Astros. They will come back in full force as soon as they club they want to spend money to follow shows it is worth that cash.

It has been said that "winning is everything." Ultimately that is true. Winning the big prize has to always be the ultimate goal. Being a good team and among the contenders is the first step. The Astros are no longer on that step, but they can be again. Fans just have to be patient.