Some seem to think that selling off players despite having the worst record in the National League is a good idea, but we don't believe that for a minute, do we Drayton? What? Drayton's not here anymore? We're allowed to stop pretending the Astros are good? Alright then.
A couple of rumors made the rounds this weekend involving the Astros. The first was from Ken Rosenthal's Full Count video, which MLB Trade Rumors has helpfully transcribed. The Phillies have inquired about Hunter Pence, but Rosenthal doesn't think the Astros will deal their right fielder:
Three different scouts have told Rosenthal that the Phillies have asked the Astros about Hunter Pence. A deal seems unlikely for a number of reasons -- Pence's salary (he's owed roughly $5MM more this season), the Phillies' reluctance to move top prospects in a deal, and the fact that Jim Crane wouldn't want to begin his ownership of the Astros by dealing their best player.
On the plus side, the Astros are still GM'ed by Ed Wade, so the Phillies should still get plenty of mileage out of that. The idea that Crane shouldn't begin his Astros tenure by trading his best player is ridiculous. If your best player's performance can best be described as "pretty good", thats a sign that your team needs to be torn down in the first place.
Meanwhile, in his notes column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo speculates that Astros starter Brett Myers has "Yankees written all over him." Nobody is sure yet what was used to write Yankees on him, or who did it. My gut feeling is that the Yankees themselves already have a similar cadre of starters to Myers and that he'd be a terrible fit in the AL East. Especially now that he's sporting a 5.00+ ERA. But hey, if they actually want to deal for him, the Astros should be listening.