Another season, more missed time for Roy Oswalt. *Sigh*
I like Oswalt as much as the next Astros fan. He's been one hell of an ace for the team for quite a few years now. Unfortunately, I believe his best days as a pitcher are behind him. After all, when you generate that much velocity from a frame that small things eventually have to wear out and start breaking down. Because the Astros are who they are (and Houston has the small-town sports mentality that it does) the opportunity to trade Oswalt, and get top dollar for him in return, is probably gone. It's easy, at first glance, to blame this on Drayton MacLane and his refusal to put the team into rebuilding mode. Easy, but probably not entirely accurate.
Houston is a town that grows too attached to its stars. As I stated earlier, for being the 4th largest City in America we're certainly small-town when it comes to our sports teams. We love our heroes, and we expect them to stay. We expect the teams to show loyalty and the players to reciprocate. Maybe Houston has been spoiled through the Biggio and Bagwell age, but we've also seen what happens when stars hand on too long. The Rockets faced this dilemma, and they let an aging Hakeem Olajuwan finish his fading career with the Toronto Raptors.
Give the word to blow up the team Drayton, otherwise you're going to lose all of the goodwill that you accumulated during the team's playoff runs.
