Astros Retrospective: 1990s

Astros By Decade

1990-1999

Rainbow Sleeve Uniforms (1990-1993)

Broken Star with Blue BP Uniform (1994)

Broken Star Uniform (1995-1999)

The 1990s started poorly.  The Astros won 75 and 65 games before finally playing .500 ball in 1992.  There was a minor peak in the strike-shortened season of 1994, followed by three more years of just above .500 play.  1997, however, started the new tradition, making the playoffs but going out easily in the Division Series, which they did three times in a row.  This makes the late-90s and early-00s Astros one of the great collections of talent in baseball history to not win a thing, unless you count two playoff wins in four tries a thing.  Since three of those four times were to the Braves, it helps explain why I dislike them so much.

Interestingly, in the 1990s drafts did more harm than good for the Astros.  How can this be?  I don't want to spoil things, but looking at the drafts all the Astros got over the course of the decade was Lance Berkman, Brad Lidge, Morgan Ensberg, and a handful of other middling Major Leaguers.  How did drafts hurt the Astros?  In the 1992 Expansion Draft they lost Willie Blair (not huge), Butch Henry (who had an excellent 1994 season with Montreal), and Ryan Bowen.  We can live with that.  In the 1997 Expansion Draft, they lost Tom Martin, Russ Springer, and Bobby Abreu.  That one really hurts.  Of course the Devil Rays infamously traded him almost immediately to the Phillies for Kevin Stocker, a shocker (ha!) of a trade.  But still, you say, Berkman, Lidge, Ensberg is better than Abreu, Russ Springer, and Butch Henry.  Well I have one more doozy for you.  In 1999, the Astros left Johan Santana unprotected in for the Rule V draft.  He was taken by the Marlins and traded to the Twins.  Now imagine the mid-2000s Astros with a rotation of Oswalt, Santana, Clemens, and Pettitte, and tell me they don't do more than just lose a World Series.

Record:  813-742, .523

Best Year:  1998 (102-60, 1 of 6, lost NLDS 3-1 to Padres)

Worst Year:  1991, (65-97, 6 of 6)

Team of the Decade:

C:  Tony Eusebio (1991, 1994-1999)  There's a whole lot of turnover at this position, but Eusebio stuck on, at least as part time, for the last six years of the decade.  Did you know he set a then-franchise record 24-game hitting streak in 2000, though it was over 45 Astros games?

1B:  Jeff Bagwell (1991-1999)  Was a surprise starter in 1991, promptly won the Rookie of the Year, and the MVP (unanimous) in 1994.  In fact he was maybe one of the few people who benefited from the strike, since he had broken his hand shortly before it and would have lost his MVP.

2B:  Craig Biggio (1992-1999)  The Astros started experimenting with him in the outfield in 1989, and he finally made the permanent move to second base in 1992 to save his legs.  The ultimate team player, and the greatest Astro to ever live.  Of course it could all been so different had he signed elsewhere as a free agent in 1995.

3B:  Ken Caminiti (1990-1994, 1999)  A defensive genius with a good bat (until he went to San Diego, got some steroids, and became a beast).  Unfortunately his drinking and drug problems got the better of him.

SS:  Andujar Cedeno (1991-1996)  Always a weak spot for the Astros, he at least had a few decent seasons before being traded.

LF:  Luis Gonzalez (1991-1995, 1997)  A guy who could hit a little, but never really found a home until his breakout 2001 season in Arizona.

CF:  Steve Finley (1991-1994)  Great defensively, good offensively, and became much better once he left the team.

RF:  Derek Bell (1995-1999)  One of the "Killer Bs", he never quite lived up to potential.

SP:  Shane Reynolds (1992-1999)  Mr. Consistency, never flashy.  The ultimate professional.  All kinds of cliches, but he was a good one and underappreciated.

SP:  Pete Harnisch (1991-1994)  Only four years, but the first three were very good and the last had a bad injury.

SP:  Mike Hampton (1994-1999)  Was good before but made a huge leap in 1999 which lead to a massive contract that saddled a few teams for years to come as he became a precautionary tale of long term contracts for pitchers.

SP:  Doug Drabek (1993-1996)  More of a star for the Pirates, but his 1994 season was fantastic.

SP:  Darryl Kile (1991-1997)  Had a good 1993 season and a better 1997 season, but the rest of his tenure in Houston was pretty rocky.  Unfortunately his life was cut much too short.

CL:  Billy Wagner (1995-1999)  There were other good relievers for the Astros in the decade, but his 1999 season was by far the best and a sign of things to come.  Was naturally right handed but threw left handed because when he was young he broke his right arm and taught himself to throw from the left side.

Notable Performances:

Jeff Bagwell 1994: .368/.451/.750, 39 HR, 116 RBI, 32 2B, 15 SB, 65 BB, 213 OPS+

Craig Biggio 1997: .325/.403/.503, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 210 H, 51 2B, 50 SB, 64 BB, 139 OPS+

Moises Alou 1998: .312/.399/.582, 38 HR, 124 RBI, 34 2B, 11 SB, 84 BB, 157 OPS+

Carl Everett 1999: .325/.398/.571, 25 HR, 108 RBI, 33 2B, 27 SB, 50 BB, 143 OPS+

Doug Drabek 1994:  12-6, 2.84 ERA, 1.075 WHIP, 6 CG, 165 IP, 121 K, 140 ERA+

Mike Hampton 1999: 22-4, 2.90 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 3 CG, 239 IP, 177 K, 155 ERA+

Darryl Kile 1997: 19-7, 2.57 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 6 CG, 256 IP, 205 K, 156 ERA+

Randy Johnson 1998: 10-1, 1.28 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 4 CG, 84 IP, 116 K, 322 ERA+

Billy Wagner 1999: 4-1-39, 1.57 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 75 IP, 124 K, 287 ERA+

Best Trade:

Larry Andersen to the Red Sox for Jeff Bagwell (August 30, 1990)

One of the most lopsided trades in Major League history.  For the Red Sox I suppose it made sense at the time.  They were in a pennant race and needed a reliever badly, Andersen was having one of the best years of his career.  Remember in the Minors Bagwell was a third baseman, and they still had Hall of Famer Wade Boggs.  Carlos Quintana was their first baseman of the future, and he did have a decent couple of years.  Scott Cooper was their other corner infield prospect.  Bagwell had only six home runs, though forty-eight doubles, in two seasons in the Minor Leagues, so they did not necessarily expect the power to come.  Unfortunately for the Red Sox they were swept in the playoffs and Bagwell turned into one of the greatest all-around first basemen of all time.  Looking back it looks horrible, at the time it kind of made sense.

Consider this: their second best trade of the decade (January 10, 1991) was Glenn Davis for Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch, and Curt Schilling.  Schilling sticks around in Houston and that could be the best in franchise history.

One more excellent trade: November 11, 1997, three nothings for Moises Alou.  Alou spent three seasons in Houston, plus lost all of 1999 due to injury, and they were the three best of his career.

Worst Trade:

Kenny Lofton and Dave Rohde to the Indians for Willie Blair and Ed Taubensee (December 10, 1991)

Oh this one hurts.  Imagine an Astros team through the 90s with Lofton, Biggio, and Bagwell at the top of the lineup.  Taubensee, meanwhile, lasted two below average seasons before being traded to the Reds a month into the 1994 season for Ross Powell (who?) and a minor leaguer.

I can't go without mentioning the huge trade with the Padres December 28, 1994.  Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, and two others for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail,  Ricky Gutierrez, Pedro Martinez (not that one), Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley.  The big "gets" were supposed to be Bell and Plantier.  Bell was good for a couple of years, but not as good as Finley.  Plantier lasted 22 games in Houston before being sent back to San Diego.  Gutierrez was better than Cedeno, but that's not saying much.  The biggest loss was Caminiti, but he had kind of hit a  plateau in Houston, and no one could see the (steroid-backed) 1996 MVP  season coming.  In hindsight this is a bad trade, but even at the time I thought it was a bad trade.  And not just because Caminiti was my favorite player.  But I guess we never would have had the "Killer Bs" without Bell, so there's that.

And where do I put the Randy Johnson trade in 1998?  He came over and had the most dominant second half I have ever seen, but the team flamed out in the Division Series because they could not touch Kevin Brown.  Then he was gone.  They gave up Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, and John Halama to get him.  Garcia and Guillen had very good careers and certainly could have helped the Astros.  At the time it was almost a steal, and still could have been if Randy had signed with the Astros.  Now looking back, they gave up too much.

Best Draft:

1997

            1st round (16th overall) Lance Berkman

            4th round (130rd overall) Eric Byrnes - did not sign

            20th round (610th overall) Tim Redding

           

That's the best they did?  Yep.  Either this or 1998 with Brad Lidge in the first round and Morgan Ensberg in the ninth round.

Worst Draft:

1990

            1st round (21st overall) Tom Nevers - one before Steve Karsay

            1st round (31st overall) Brian Williams

            2nd round (44th overall) Gary Mota

            3rd round (88th overall) Chris Hatcher - never made it to MLB with Astros

            4th round (114th overall) Perry Berry - within next 20 picks: Garret Anderson, Ray Durham, Bret Boone

            10th round (270th overall) Brian Boehringer - did not sign

            23rd round (608th overall) Jason Varitek - did not sign

Williams never really caught on in Houston, starting 29 games with a 4+ ERA and 1.5+ WHIP over four seasons before being part of the trade with San Diego that was a mixed bag for the Astros.  Plenty of other guys taken who came just before other future big leaguers.  Really just a bad draft.

(Dis) honorable mention: 1991:  First round pick John Burke did not sign, and was taken the next year later in the first round, and ended up only pitching 74 innings with a 6.75 ERA.  They then had three more first round picks and three second round picks, none of whom played.  In fact, the only pick with significant time was James Mouton in the 7th round.  Why was this not worse than 1990?  Mouton was slightly better than Williams, and overall the draft was weaker (though the first round featured Manny Ramirez, Cliff Floyd, and Shawn Green).