What the Hell is Wrong with the Houston Astros?

In the last two days there have been some crazy rumors coming out of Houston. First, it was reported yesterday that there was a deal on the table between the Astros and the Orioles with the Houston sending Morgan Ensberg, Adam Everett, and Roy Oswalt to Baltimore for shortstop Miguel Tejada.

Apparently it was the Orioles who rejected the deal.

HUH!?

It's said their concern was that Oswalt is a free agent after next season, and will leave. That's a reasonable concern too, but how easy would it have been for the Orioles to ship Oswalt somewhere else?

Apparently there are numerous teams interested in Oswalt, including the Red Sox and Texas Rangers. Maybe the Red Sox would part with Mike Lowell and a Jon Lester or Craig Hansen and others for Oswalt. The Rangers could package Hank Blalock, Brad Wilkerson and a prospect or two for Oswalt.

Anyway you look at it, the Orioles could have finally unloaded Tejada's contract AND gotten a considerable amount of Major League-ready talent, not to mention a couple good young pitching prospects to put behind Erik Bedard in their rotation.

But the craziest part of this whole thing: WHY IN THE HELL WOULD THE ASTROS DEAL ROY OSWALT!?

Yes he's a free agent after 2007 but it's pretty likely Oswalt would return to the Astros - well, it was BEFORE you tried to trade him. Now Oswalt is definitely going to seriously explore his options.

Wouldn't you?

Do the Astros think that Roger Clemens has another five to six years in him? Is Andy Pettite getting younger? Maybe this offseason, instead of pumping another $20 million into Clemens' bloated pocket, you can use that money towards signing Oswalt to a multi-year deal?

What could have made things even worse is, imagine the PR nightmare had the Orioles then turned around and shipped Oswalt to the cross state rival Texas Rangers? Remember when Nolan Ryan left the Astros for the Rangers? How did that go over with Astro fans again?

Finally, what the hell would Miguel Tejada do for the Astros? Do GM Tim Purpura and owner Drayton McLane really think that adding Tejada and his baggage would help the team more than Roy Oswalt? Yes, the Astro offense is horrible, but if I remember correctly the Astros got to the World Series with the same horrible offense last season.

The reasons? Clemens, Pettite, and OSWALT.

Brad Lidge didn't hurt either, which is what makes this next story so interesting.

According to the Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice, Houston owner Drayton McLane has ORDERED Brad Lidge to be traded before the deadline today. He got the information from an official on another team.

Wow, talk about a fall from grace. First Lidge was considered the penultimate closer in MLB last season, and then this happened....

Followed by this his next time out.....

Then Lidge gave up the Series winning hit to Jermaine Dye in Game 4 of Houston's 1-0 loss.

This season Brad has fallen out of favor in Houston. He's 0-3 with a 5.77 ERA, but he still has 23 saves in 27 chances. Plus, he's struck out 67 batters in only 48.1 IP.

Some believe that his struggles are directly related to his postseason failures last season, but on the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio this afternoon Lidge gave other reasons.

"I still feel confident, but I've had problems with mechanics, and therefore have given up home runs to hitters I should get out. Even if I did well last October, I gotta believe those pitches would still be getting hit for home runs this year."

If you're the GM of another team wouldn't you take a chance on Lidge as long as the asking price was reasonable? The Rangers (again!) were reportedly interested, but pulled out when the Astros started asking about new Ranger Carlos Lee.

Still, Lidge is only 29, and has proven he can do the job. With the right pitching coach, a change in mechanics and a nice change of scenery who knows how far Lidge could turn everything around?

Now, here's my favorite part of this whole inexplicable Astro thing. When asked why he thinks Houston is suddenly so eager to get rid of its best players, Richard Justice said he thinks it has something to do with Roger Clemens telling McLane that "changes need to be made around here."

Apparently McLane is willing to gamble with the future of his franchise because a 43-year-old pitcher who most likely won't be around for that future wants him to. So, Roger thinks the team winning this year while he's there is more important than what they do after he's gone.

Gee, Roger Clemens putting himself before the best interests of his team. Never thought I'd see that.

In other trade deadline news.....

• The Cubs are reportedly about to send Todd Walker to San Diego for some minor leaguers. Greg Maddux will probably be staying put.
• The White Sox are very interested in Orioles reliever LaTroy Hawkins.
• If your a Phillies fan, how sore does your ass feel right now? The Yankees just absolutely fleeced you. They got a corner outfielder they need, and a starting pitcher for a guy they saw as maybe being a middle reliever in the future and cash. The Phillies got none of the Yankees top prospects, just Abreu off the books.
• SI.com is reporting the Mets have sent OF Xavier Nady to the Pirates for lefty starter Oliver Perez, and righty reliever Roberto Hernandez.
• Remember in April when Detroit's Chris Shelton had 9 HR in the first week of the season? Then everybody got on the Pirates case for exposing him in the Rule 5 draft? Well Shelton has been sent down to the minors now for newly acquired first baseman Sean Casey, whom the Tigers got from the Pirates. Isn't it ironic? Dontcha think?
• Buster Olney says Alfonso Soriano WILL be traded, but nobody knows where yet. The Twins are considered a darkhorse favorite.
• The Red Sox offered Coco Crisp to the White Sox for Mark Buerhle, and were swiftly turned down. The Red Sox then offered Crisp and young fireballer Craig Hansen to the Braves for Andruw Jones. The Braves say they want Jon Lester instead. Funny how Theo Epstein was looking to make a few minor deals, then the Yankees get Abreu, and now he's after Andruw Jones and Mark Buehrle.
• I was surprised the Cardinals traded for Ronnie Belliard. A second baseman who is all hit and no field just doesn't seem like the kinda player that Tony LaRussa or Walt Jocketty would want on their team.
• The Reds added their 4th and 5th reliever to their bullpen in the last month by getting Rheal Cormier from the Phillies and Kyle Lohse from the Twins. I'm sure my boy Hrbek did his happy dance upon hearing of the Lohse deal.

That's it for now, and there's still 25 minutes until the deadline passes. I'll keep the site updated until all deals are in.

Sources

• Astros offered Oswalt (Baltimore Sun)
• Sports Justice (Houston Chronicle)