The New York Times' Tyler Kepner has some time to talk to Ed Wade about the 2.0 version of the 2010 Astros.
Kepner:
Wade credited the Astros’ first-year manager, Brad Mills, with keeping the team focused after a 17-34 start. The Astros have reveled in the spoiler role, sweeping the contending Phillies and Cardinals in recent series. In the best case, the Astros could mimic the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds, who finished strong last season and built off that momentum this year.
If nothing else, though, the trades of Oswalt, Berkman and Feliz were a long-delayed acknowledgment that the Astros had moved on. Nobody who played for Houston in the 2005 World Series remains with the team. For all the angst caused by Oswalt’s early trade request, it was actually for the best.
It'll be interesting to see where Wade falls on the annual column-filling "Worst GMs in Baseball" later this off-season.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
