Once again, Fernando Abad is headed off the Astros roster. This time, he's going to the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. He figures to only miss a couple of weeks and leaves the Astros with only one left-hander in Sergio Escalona in the bullpen. Houston recalled Fernando Rodriguez from Oklahoma City to replace him, and Rodriguez had success in his last stint, but also had some really bad games.
↵The problem here isn't this relatively minor move. After all, it's a little like shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic with this team. No, the problem stems all the way back from spring training, when everyone (including Brian McTaggart) picked him to surprise and grab a spot in the bullpen or possibly the rotation. Considering Abad had strong numbers in a small stint with the team last season, it wasn't implausible.
↵But, looking back, it did seem like spinning for the team. Houston's management probably wanted Abad to succeed, so they built him up as much as possible, even including him in a farce of a race for the fifth starter's role. To Ed Wade's credit, he did make a pretty savvy trade for Escalona, giving up injury-prone second base prospect Albert Cartwright and freeing Jose Altuve to move through the system a little more quickly. It's the unnecessary hype that bothers me. Abad will be just a footnote in this season, but he feels like one of the final straws that broke fan trust with this front office.
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