Clemens' departure underscores Astros' woes

At least according to Austin American Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls who gave his take on the Astros current state of affairs and what the departure of Roger Clemens means for them.

See below for my note to him on his column and his response.

i agree with u. there's not a ton of offense down on the farm, and clemens i'm sure saw that as well. but i think drayton's too loyal to the ensbergs and lanes of the world. i agree with u wholeheartedly on loretta. he's a great hitter. i wrote that roger left, in part, because of the yanks' big time hitting lineup. i just know that the gms (hunsicker, purpura) tire of drayton's control. take care. good talking to u.

kirk

On May 8, 2007, at 4:55 PM, Hughes, Phil wrote:

Hi Kirk,

Caught your column today, agree with you on several points including the fact that it seems Drayton has far too much input into player personnel decisions.

However, I think you're missing the two bigger issues with the team - offensive inconsistency and lack of offensive prospects in the farm system. Starting pitching is not an issue for this team right now. If you look at their last 13 games, 12 of those starts have been quality starts (six innings, three runs or less) by Astros' starting pitchers. Yet the team is 5-8 over those games. Clemens, even with all the intangibles he brings to the table, probably wouldn’t have made much difference. Why would the Astros want to match what the Yankees are going to pay him when they don’t have a team right now that can get Ws for him when he pitches his heart out. To your point, he could've had another Cy Young worthy season with nothing to show for it. All that being said, as a fan, would I love to have him? Absolutely. Who wouldn’t? Are we going to be better than .500 if you put him on the team that exists today? Probably not.

If Berkman and Lee start producing like their capable of and Garner wakes up and realizes that Mark Loretta can flat out hit and get on base, this team will contend before the season is over. With the depth we have at SP right now, not signing Clemens gives them the flexibility to trade for a bat if the team starts to play better. But clearly, these are all big 'ifs'.

If I'm Purpura, I'm real concerned that there are not offensive prospects to speak of at AA or above since they just called up Pence. Johnathan Ash might be good, but he's at least a year or two away. Lots of good pitchers to speak of such as Patton or Guttierrez, but offensively, the future doesn’t look to be getting any better for the Astros.

Thanks,

-phil