Concerned that their critics might think they’re spending too much money, the New York Yankees characterized their six-year, $88.5-million signing of starting pitcher Mike Mussina as a potential cost-cutting move. After all, they say, David Cone, whom Mussina will replace in the rotation, made $12 million last year, $2 million more than Mussina will in 2001.
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.
The most important numbers for Astros fans this winter won’t be wins and losses or home runs and RBIs, but how many dollars Drayton McLane agrees to spend to improve the team. Fans cried foul last offseason when the payroll dropped from $56.3 million to $52.4 million despite the opening of publicly subsidized Enron Field. Fortunately, there’s reason to believe McLane will dig significantly deeper into his pockets to help the Astros return to contention in 2001.
Perhaps the best predictor of a pitcher’s longevity and future success is his strikeout rate. From that perspective, although he hasn’t filled Mike Hampton’s shoes, Octavio Dotel hasn’t been such a disappointment this season.
It could be worse. That’s small consolation for Astros fans, but by winning their 42nd game last week, they avoided the inglorious distinction of suffering the most catastrophic single-season turnaround since 1901. That ignominy belongs to the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics, who endured a reversal of 56 games.
Nolan Ryan, Joe Morgan, Don Sutton, Eddie Mathews, Nellie Fox and Robin Roberts all spent playing time in a Houston uniform, but none of them is wearing an Astros cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Almost 40 years into its existence, the Astros organization has yet to see a player it can primarily call its own enshrined at Cooperstown.
