The Houston Astros - 40 Years Worth of Horrible Trades

I haven't written so much as a word for you guys over the last four months. Mostly because it's been slow and I haven't had much time or motivation. Then I realized there was a storm brewing under my own nose, right here in the very city I currently reside.

If you haven't noticed by now, the Houston Astros might as well just mail it in for the rest of the year. As I sit here writing this, the Astros are 40-84 on the year, and 32Ã'½ games out of first place in the NL Central, with those numbers coming directly from the Houston Astros website. That means they are 44 games UNDER .500 this year. The shocking factor in all this? They're 16 games away from 100 losses this year. While most teams are either trying to lock up their division or trying to nail down the Wild Card race, the Astros are heading towards a milestone of a different nature. They're looking to become the 13th team since 2000 to reach 100 losses in a single season.

Where exactly did they go wrong? Those fingers could be pointed in a number of different directions. The pitching has been laughable, the defense has been ridiculous, and the bats have been borderline dormant for the majority of the season. They've had their moments here and there, of course. They can't lose ALL of their games, even though Heaven knows they've tried.

Or maybe it could be their annual donation to the Philadelphia Phillies that could attribute to the downfall of the Astros. Over the last couple of years, they've sent Hunter Pence and Roy Oswalt to the Phillies among others. Granted, Roy O wanted out of there like a prisoner wanted out of jail. But that said, when did the Astros become the unofficial farm team to the rest of the National League? Look at some of the worst trades over the last few decades.

As if those two trades to the Phillies weren't bad enough, does the name CURT SCHILLING ring any immediate bells? That's right Astros fans, you had him too. Albeit for just a year, but you dumped off on the Phillies during the opening week of the 1992 season. Well, we all know how that story turned out now don't we?

Don't worry American League fans, I didn't forget you guys either. For you six or seven Cleveland Indians fans out there (there could be 10 or 11 of you, if you've seen the infamous "Major League" movies), you guys can thank the Astros for that gift known as Kenny Lofton. In the decade following his trade to the Indians, he was in four All-Star games, and was a repeat offender in leading the Stolen Bases category, leading that category throughout most of the 1990s. I guess former GM Bill Wood didn't see that one coming, did he?

There are two trades that would have most Houston fans going, "If I had known THEN, what I know NOW..." The first happened at the end of the 1994 season that was shortened by the labor strike. Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley took off for the west coast and ended up in San Diego. In the four years following that trade, Ken and Steve launched an all-out assault on the National League. They earned a combined 5 Gold Gloves, and slugging nearly 200 combined Home Runs between the two.

But perhaps the biggest disaster for the Astros belongs to a true Hall of Fame legend - Joe Morgan. According to AstrosDaily.com, this trade was gut-wrenching and unnecessary. A multi-player trade following the 1971 season (admittedly well before my time), Morgan ended up in Cincinnati. He would go on to a Hall of Fame career that saw over 600 runs scored in his post-Houston era, finishing with 268 long balls, and earning himself a couple of World Series rings to his collection.

I'm thinking the Astros need to seriously figure out exactly where their head has been the last 30 or 40 years. Either that, or just trade places with an actual minor league team because that's about the only purpose they've served other than providing comic relief to fans everywhere.

If you want more information on those those trades I mentioned, feel free to check out the AstrosDaily link, and if you want current information about the meteoric downfall at Minute Maid Park, check out the Houston Astros official website. I'm writing this on a Friday morning, just after midnight. If you've never touched alcohol before, here's a challenge - spend the weekend looking back at past trades, and how the Astros have done this year so far. If you're not in an AA meeting come Monday night, I want to hear from you! At least with me being a Cubs fan, I'm entertained on a daily basis. Now, I want to cry every time I watch the Astros. Happy reading everybody, I need to go find a box of tissues!