Time to Abandon Ship?

If the Astros aren't going to emphatically deny that they were willing to trade Roy Oswalt plus another player or two for a short-term rental like Tejada, then they would possibly be better off throwing in the towel on this season and dealing him before today's trade deadline for the best package of prospects that they can get. Their chances of making the postseason this year, even with Oswalt, are very slim at this point, and their idiocy has now very likely burned their bridges with The Wizard beyond recognition.

I just do not see Drayton as being willing to give up on this season yet, especially considering the money that he has invested in The Rocket, which makes an Oswalt-for-prospects deal quite unlikely to occur. Sadly, though, we may all be able to look back on this day a year-and-a-half from now, if Oswalt signs elsewhere, as the day when the front office did irreparable harm to the team's relationship with its franchise pitcher and lost any chance to sign him to a long-term deal which would have likely insured that he was an Astro for the remainder of his career.

I certainly hope that, at the least, Preston Wilson, Brad Lidge and Jason Lane find new homes. It is also not too late to cut your losses with Aubrey Huff, if you believe that Ensberg is healthy again. You likely will not get as nice a package as you gave up for Huff, but maybe you could at least undo a little bit of the damage that has already been done. Brad Lidge will still quite likely attract a return of more than one major-league ready players, and Jason Lane's performance in the second half of 2005 will probably motivate some team to take a flyer on him, despite his terrible struggles in 2006.