At last, there's sense where focus was dollars and cents
By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
With the exception of owner Drayton McLane reiterating his championship cry, not one word was mentioned Friday about this Astros club having the goods to win a playoff berth, much less a title.
Not by general manager Tim Purpura. Not by manager Phil Garner. Not by Roger Clemens.
Contrast that with a year ago in the same setting, when Clemens first signed with the Astros. You could sense something special in the air. You walked away knowing something big was about to happen to baseball in this city.
Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell attended that 2004 news conference at the ballpark and spoke openly about getting to the World Series.
Andy Pettitte talked about the powerful lineup that complemented the starting pitching, comparing it to what he always knew as a Yankee.
Clemens said the goal of the 2004 Astros was more than "just making the playoffs."
This time, the Astros spoke in measured tones, balancing the promise of superb starting pitching against personnel losses in the offseason and questions in the lineup and bullpen.
"Make no mistake about it, the team we're going to go with right now, we're going to have to pitch and everybody's going to have to play a little bit above their capability," Clemens said. "Including me."
Institutional changeBut there is one huge difference between this Astros team entering a season with questions and former Astros teams in the same predicament.
Astros thinking has changed, top to bottom — primarily at the top, with McLane.
The way this club conducts its baseball business today has as much to do with baseball as business. Not long ago, championship talk was just that. Talk.
The run at Carlos Beltran, while futile, said much about how last season's playoff run reshaped baseball strategies at Union Station. So did Friday's signing of Clemens at a cool $18 million for one season.
There was a time not long ago when McLane would glad hand his way through the clubhouse, asking players what they've done to become champions, and players fought the urge to roll their eyes or laugh.
What have we done? What about you, big man?
Early in his ownership of the Astros, McLane was burned on a few big-name signings he thought would juice attendance and give this club a shot. Doug Drabek and Greg Swindellwere two of the more notable ones.
Those experiences made McLane meek and frugal. It's a reputation McLane has fought much of the past decade, but in many ways indeed it remains warranted.
At odds in front officeHe allowed free agents such as Darryl Kile, Mike Hampton and Moises Alou to move on. When former GM Gerry Hunsicker approached him with some kind of daring idea or another, occasionally McLane butted heads with his sidekick.
Former Astros closer Billy Wagner stated publicly what many believed privately about McLane. Before being traded to the Phillies after the 2003 season, Wagner characterized McLane as caring more about competing than winning.
"If you want to win, you don't cut salary," Wagner said. "That's just common sense."
Once, McLane didn't get it. The 2004 season changed that.
That's the biggest impact Clemens has had on this club. It's bigger than the buzz Clemens created every time he toed the rubber. It's bigger than Clemens' huge contract.
And it could prove to be bigger than the significant obstacles this club faces in 2005.
With Clemens showing the way and Beltran spinning magic last October, McLane realized it can be done here. Spending and thinking creatively does work.
As one Astros executive put it Friday: "If I would have told you three years ago that we'd make a $100 million offer to the biggest free agent on the market and sign Roger Clemens for $18 million, you would have asked, 'What is Drayton smoking?' In the past, it was always, 'We don't have the resources.' "
Much work to be doneRoger Clemens certainly won't make this club a champion by himself. He will make the starting rotation as formidable as any in baseball, barring injury.
But there are too many holes. There are too many questions for anyone to honestly believe the parts are there for another wildly entertaining October.
But Clemens has seen the change in his boss, too.
"Sure, there are questions," Clemens said. "There are a lot of things that figure into it. We need Lance (Berkman) back. We need Jeff (Bagwell) to feel as well as he can. You can just go on down the line.
"But who's to say that if we're scuffling at the All-Star break, we're not going to get another horse or two to jump-start us? Us, as players, giving (McLane) a taste of that, maybe that will encourage him to do it again. Maybe a few years back he was hesitant. That's what Andy and I wanted to do. We wanted to right this ship a little bit. Now they have something to live up to."
Now, maybe the Astros can head into April, even July, and know the bottom line won't be the same, old bottom line McLane used to study. It will be finding a way to win.
john.lopez@chron.com
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