Angst in Astros Land

And there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments far and wide across Astros land today. And for the life of me, I cannot figure out why.

The Astros did not sign Masahiro Tanaka. The Astros were never going to be able to sign Masahiro Tanaka, not with the free agent market running as wildly as it has this winter. Didn't this signing have New York Yankees written all over it even before the deal was announced?

So, $155 million for 7 years and that doesn't even include the $20 million posting fee. For a pitcher who hasn't thrown an MLB pitch yet. Yes, he has astonishing numbers in Japan. He may very well turn out to be the love child of Walter Johnson and Cy Young, or his arm may have been cloned in a Petri dish from Roger Clemens' DNA. Or his arm may fall off next year. Either way, it is a $175,000,000.00 gamble.

And it is a gamble. Even though Tanaka is young and presumably healthy, that is still a lot of coin. But some Astros fans are livid that Jim Crane didn't put $175,000,000.00 on red and wait for the ball to finish bouncing.

Crane is reported to have offered in excess of $100,000,000.00. Let's say for grins that he offered around $115 to $120 million which I find highly likely from some of the reports I've read. Add into that around $13,000,000+ that Tanaka would have saved in state income tax by playing in Texas and you're looking at around $128 to $133 million. That was a competitive bid. And Crane took The Rocket himself along for the ride to try to sweet talk Tanaka. But when all was said and done, Tanaka wanted to be a Yankee. Like it or not, the Yankees are a storied franchise and many will be seduced by that siren song. Even with a lucrative television deal, Crane would have been hard-pressed to get past that obstacle.

But I'm hearing Astros fans out there accuse Crane of just putting on a show, bidding just enough to get the good publicity with no intention of getting a deal done, perpetuating the "Jim Crane won't spend any money" meme. The problem is, I don't believe that ... at all.

When Crane first purchased the team, he made a number of missteps. He seemed to think that owning a baseball team was just like owning any other business. I don't think that he understood initially that a baseball team is really owned by the city and the fans who support that team. A good team owner is someone who understands that he is first and foremost the custodian of a sacred trust. Sacred. I mean that. A 50+ year old franchise becomes a part of the heart and soul of the community and the fans whose lives and personal histories become intertwined with the team's history. We remember when children were born based on what the Astros did that year. But I digress.

One year ago, I had my doubts about the direction of the team on the business side. A lot of them. But Crane seemed to realize that things weren't going well and he took steps to address the problem. Starting with the hiring of Reid Ryan, the problems started to go away. The fans felt like someone was listening, really listening, to them again. The tone changed completely. There were still issues on the field and off the field, but they started getting addressed. Just recently with the news that the left field eyesore signage is being moved and that the front office is working diligently with MLB to get games back on the air, one can see that things really are changing for the better. And with Jeff Luhnow's direction, the play on the field will be getting better as well and I believe that Jim Crane will pay to make that a reality. I think he has earned that benefit of a doubt with what he has done over this last year.

Call me Pollyanna if you wish, say I'm wearing rose-colored glasses, but I do believe that Crane's bid for Tanaka was a serious bid. If Tanaka wanted, in his heart of hearts, to be a Yankee, there was not much that could be done about that. But there is one thing I don't want to see. I DO NOT WANT CRANE TO SPEND MONEY JUST TO SPEND MONEY. That is how the Astros ended up spending far too much money on rapidly dwindling returns for Carlos Lee's contract. Teams such as the Yankees, Angels, Mariners and others may pay in the long run for their "must win today at any cost" strategy in paying free agents.

I do believe that Crane will spend money, but I don't think that he will ever do so recklessly, thoughtlessly or carelessly, and I'm OK with that.

Besides, five of the Astros Top 10 prospects from the just released Baseball America list are right-handed pitchers. Just think, one of those pitchers could be as good or better than Masahiro Tanaka over an entire career. One of those guys could be turning down $155,000,000 from the Yankees one of these days because, in his heart of hearts, he wants to be an Astro.

My soapbox is now being stored away for the time being. Thanks for hearing me out even if you disagree with me, especially if you disagree with me.