This is something we'll tackle in the off-season, or while we're watching other teams play baseball in October, but Richard Justice has taken on the evaluation of trades during Ed Wade's tenure. It's a nice rundown, so you should read it, but here's the nugget:
Wade took over an organization that was in shambles. He appears to have done the right things to rebuild the farm system while keeping the big league team competitive.
He'll face a long list of tough decisions in the off-season ahead. Are the Astros going to stay the course and patch here and there and try to remain competitive? Or are they finally going to tear it down and start over?
Drayton McLane has been against a full-blown reconstruction, but he ought to at least take a look. The problem is that his three highest-paid players (Berkman, Oswalt and Lee) all have no-trade clauses, so while Wade maybe didn't make all great deals, he inherited a mess.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
