Of course we'll be tracking any and all reactions to the Berry Reassignment/Bagwell Hiring in the next 24 hours (much to The Wife's chagrin), and we already have one from Richard Justice, who predictably isn't overwhelmed by today's news. An excerpt, if you'll allow:
Is Sean Berry to blame for this train wreck? Absolutely not. Drayton McLane is to blame. Tal Smith is to blame. Ed Wade is to blame. But with the Astros, the people who are to blame don't lose their jobs. They roll along, and the franchise continues to slide into irrelevance...
...Here's who should go, Ed. You. And Tal. And Drayton. You're the ones who ran the franchise into the ground...
...In the end, he's the lucky one. He no longer works for Drayton and Tal and Ed. Good for him. Here's hoping Roy Oswalt gets lucky too.
But Roy shouldn't be packing his bags. To trade Roy would make sense, would give Roy a chance to win. That would require someone capable of thinking logically and smartly. The Astros have no one like that.
Is Ed Wade to blame for Carlos Lee's OPS dropping off from .845 (from 1999-2009) to .681 this season? No (and Sean Berry isn't, either - granted).
But I agree, to an extent. Pedro Feliz didn't work out. But neither did Garrett Atkins. Kaz Matsui didn't work out, but neither has Mark DeRosa. Sometimes you just miss. Where Ed Wade has made the most impact can be seen on the Futures Game tonight, in Jordan Lyles. And in Ross Seaton. And in J.D. Martinez, Jason Castro. No player development? Jordan Lyles is 19 and killing Double-A. Jason Castro is on the Major-League roster. Sure, he is talented, but when people thought his - and Lyles' - pick was reaching, the Astros are already starting to reap the benefits.
Koby Clemens was a guy who could kind of hit, but didn't have a position before 2009. He's now in Double-A and could very well factor into the 1B1 scenario in Houston in 2011.
Justice talks about the fans who don't come to games, and we always moan about the minor-league evaluators who can't see past the fact that Ramon Vazquez is actually the starting 2B at Round Rock (pause for weeping). But it's not fair to call this a figurehead move. If the Astros had not pulled this trigger, Justice would likely have had an All-Star Break column about how the Astros don't ever do anything, and that's why Drayton, Tal, and Ed suck. To say that Ed Wade is incapable of thinking logically is childish, and short-sighted reactionism. If that's a word.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
