Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on October 9, 2000.
From 1994 to 1999 the Astros were a superb baseball team, finishing second three straight years then winning a trio of division titles. Their 507-400 record over that span trailed only the Braves, Yankees and Indians. In 2000 the wheels came off, as they finished fourth and lost 90 games for the first time since 1991. Yet the Astros can salvage some good news from their otherwise depressing season. Among the individual highlights:
Recovering from offseason elbow surgery, Scott Elarton struggled through his first 11 starts but was 13-4 with a 3.54 ERA in his final 19 games. Elarton finished 17-7 on the season.
After batting .227 and undergoing season-ending knee surgery in 1999, Richard Hidalgo batted .314 with a .391 OBP, .636 slugging average, 42 doubles, 44 home runs, 118 runs and 122 RBIs.
Coming off a knee injury that caused him to miss the entire 1999 season, Moises Alou batted .355 with a .416 OBP, .623 slugging average, 28 doubles, 30 home runs, 82 runs and 114 RBIs in 126 games.
Breaking his own club record, Jeff Bagwell hit 47 home runs and batted .310 with a .424 OBP, .615 slugging average, 37 doubles and 132 RBIs. He became the first major-leaguer since Lou Gehrig in 1936 to score 152 runs in a season.
Returning from season-ending shoulder surgery in 1999, rookie Mitch Meluskey batted .300 with a .401 OBP and .487 slugging average, all franchise bests for a catcher, with 21 doubles, 14 home runs and 69 RBIs in 117 games.
Playing 114 games, Lance Berkman batted .297 with a .388 OBP, .561 slugging average, 28 doubles, 21 home runs, 76 runs and 67 RBIs.
The Astros, on pace to lose a franchise-record 106 games at the All-Star break, rallied to a 42-33 second-half record, only two games worse than the division-winning Cardinals. At their new home, Enron Field, they were 15-28 in the first half but 24-14 in the second half. Their 6.31 runs per game after the All-Star break were best in baseball. They were the first team in major-league history to have three players with a .600 slugging average.
Essential to the offense is Bagwell. The club’s No. 1 task is to extend his contract before he becames a free agent after the 2001 season. Bagwell is due to make $6.5 million next year, but that could more than double if he gets an immediate raise under a new contract. Hidalgo, who earned $330,000 this year, is eligible for salary arbitration after a monster season. Bagwell and Hidalgo alone could consume any salary increases owner Drayton McLane has in mind if he sticks to his miserly wish of a payroll in the high $50 millions.
While they were stacked at catcher, first base and the three outfield positions, the Astros lost their starting second and third basemen in midseason. Craig Biggio suffered through the first half batting .252 with a .391 OBP and .357 slugging average. In 18 games after the All-Star break, though, he batted .333 with a .377 OBP and .542 slugging average. His .413 leadoff OBP was second in the league and he was on pace to match his career high in walks and score 100 runs for the sixth straight season. On Aug. 1 Biggio suffered a season-ending knee injury that sent him to the disabled list for the first time in 1,800 career games.
Ken Caminiti started the season batting .303 with a .419 OBP, .582 slugging average, 13 doubles, 15 home runs, 42 runs and 45 RBIs in 59 games. He suffered a serious wrist injury June 15, and the Astros announced Sept. 6 that Caminiti had left the team indefinitely to attend to personal problems unrelated to the injury. With a club option for $5.2 million in 2001, Caminiti’s return is uncertain.
Unless Biggio is significantly hobbled, he’ll start in 2001. Julio Lugo, filling in admirably for Biggio, batted .283 with a .346 OBP and .431 slugging average and should get a shot at shortstop. The Astros need a temporary solution at the position until they’re ready in 2002 to start Olympian Adam Everett, who batted .292 with a .414 OBP and .399 slugging average in his final two months with AAA New Orleans. Despite his glove, free-agent Tim Bogar was too huge an offensive liability to start regularly, batting .207 with a .292 OBP and .319 slugging average.
In Caminiti’s absence, Chris Truby batted .260 with a .295 OBP, .477 slugging average, 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 59 RBIs in 78 games. Truby has decent power but shouldn’t bat any higher than No. 7 with his lack of plate discipline. Bill Spiers, who batted .301 with a .386 OBP and .392 slugging average, is likely to return as the club’s Swiss Army Knife and play part-time at third base. Tony Eusebio, who batted .280 with a .361 OBP and .459 slugging average before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury Sept. 1, should remain with the club at catcher.
On the bubble are Roger Cedeno, who batted .282 with a .383 OBP, .398 slugging average, 54 runs and 25 stolen bases in 74 games, and Daryle Ward, who batted .258 with a .295 OBP, .538 slugging average, 20 home runs and 47 RBIs in 119 games. Combine their best features and you’d have a poor man’s Barry Bonds. The Astros can afford to have Ward playing part-time, but arbitration-eligible Cedeno, who made $2.4 million this year, is a luxury as a reserve outfielder. Both are likely trade bait. If one or both of them goes then Glen Barker will probably earn a spot as a back-up outfielder.
There’s a possibility Alou will be dealt if he waives his no-trade clause, but given his output and relatively cheap salary, it should take a lot, like a prime young center fielder or quality starting pitcher, to pry him away from the Astros.
Despite setting franchise records with 938 runs, a .361 OBP and a .477 slugging average and a National League record with 249 home runs, all that offense wasn’t enough. The 5.41 team ERA was worst in club history and last in the National League. The pitching was awful no matter how you slice it: a 5.41 ERA in the first half and 5.41 in the second half; 5.55 at home and 5.26 on the road; 5.52 for starters and 5.16 for relievers. The pitching staff absorbed some major blows:
After converting 39 of 42 save opportunities with a 1.57 ERA in 1999, Billy Wagner blew nine saves in 15 chances with a 6.18 ERA before his season ended June 17 with an elbow injury. The Astros were 48 of 63 in save opportunities in 1999 but 30 of 55 in 2000.
Coming off a 21-10 record and 3.58 ERA in 1999, Jose Lima was 7-16 with a 6.65 ERA, setting the National League record by allowing 48 home runs. It wasn’t all Enron Field: his 6.32 road ERA was almost as bad as his 6.92 home ERA.
Starting the season 6-3 with a 3.31 ERA in his first 15 games, Shane Reynolds fell to 1-5 with an 11.25 ERA in his last seven starts. A back problem ended his season July 29.
After losing 13 games in 1999, Chris Holt lost 16 more to go with eight wins and a 5.35 ERA. His 5.88 road ERA was worse than his 4.91 ERA at Enron Field.
No starter was consistently effective for the entire season. Octavio Dotel was 1-5 with a 5.84 ERA in the rotation. Wade Miller joined the club in July and went 6-6 with a 5.14 ERA. Fellow rookie Tony McKnight was 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA in August and September.
The relief corps was taxed as much as the starters. The Astros used 16 different pitchers out of the bullpen without much luck. Dotel was moved to the closer’s role in early July after Jay Powell, who was 1-1 with a 5.67 ERA, developed a shoulder problem. Dotel converted 16 of 23 save opportunities with a 4.24 ERA from the bullpen. Joe Slusarski pitched 54 games and 77 innings, posting a 4.21 ERA. The remaining cast either didn’t pitch much or didn’t pitch well.
Elarton, Reynolds, Lima, Holt, Dotel, Miller and McKnight are all candidates to make the rotation next spring. Lima, whose contract will pay him $5.75 million next year, and Holt, who’s arbitration-eligible after making a little more than $1 million in 2000, combined for more than a third of the team’s losses and are probably on the trading block. Clearing out the salaries of Lima and Holt as well as Cedeno and Caminiti would save the Astros at least $14 million in 2001, money that could attract the return of Mike Hampton, who was 15-10 with a 3.14 ERA with the Mets.
If Hampton isn’t interested in coming back or the Astros are too cheap to pay him, they might seek a lesser-priced free agent. Some middling starters include Darren Dreifort, 12-9 with a 4.16 ERA with the Dodgers; Frank Castillo, 10-5, 3.59 with the Blue Jays; Cal Eldred, 10-2, 4.58 with the White Sox; Albie Lopez, 11-13, 4.21 with the Devil Rays; Mark Gardner, 11-7, 4.05 with the Giants; and Rick Reed, 11-5, 4.10 with the Mets.
The return of a healthy Wagner and Powell should help stabilize the bullpen. The Astros will also sort through a pool of young hurlers who appeared in the bullpen or starred in the minor leagues this year. The farm system is stocked with pitchers perhaps ready to get some seasoning in middle relief like Elarton did in 1998 and 1999. One standout is Roy Oswalt, who was 11-4 with AA Round Rock and led the Texas League with a 1.94 ERA. Adding a free agent like Jeff Nelson, 8-4 with a 2.45 ERA with the Yankees, or Turk Wendell, 8-6, 3.59 with the Mets, would be nice, although they will likely be pricey for middle relievers.
The Astros were outscored 938-944. A team allowing only six more runs than its opponents would typically expect to be around .500, not eight games worse like the Astros. But the Astros were exceptionally bad in one-run games, finishing with a 15-31 record in such contests, worst in baseball. A better bullpen should improve that mark.
This winter looks to be more exciting than the disappointing regular season. The team’s priorities include extending Bagwell’s contract; acquiring Mike Hampton or another free-agent starter; avoiding a messy arbitration hearing with Hidalgo; shopping Ward, Cedeno, Lima and Holt to bolster the pitching staff and free up payroll for Bagwell and free agents; and re-signing Bill Spiers. If the front office is better at accomplishing these goals than the team was on the field this season, then next year’s product promises to be better. But the high $50 millions isn’t likely to get it done.