Up to their old tricks

The Astros' front office, that is.

Roy Oswalt, Jeff Bagwell, and Roger Clemens have all been in the news lately. Looks like the 'Stros are going to make Roy Wonder wait for a contract extension again, Roger Clemens is being wooed by the Rangers, and Bagwell--well, what a saga. They've filed an insurance claim, saying he's disabled at this point and therefore will be unable to play. All Bagwell wants is a chance to find out in spring training. I personally think he should be given that chance--not for sentimental reasons, although I'm certainly sentimental where he's concerned. But it's only fair. Every other player under contract has a chance to prove themselves in spring training, including guys like Carlos Hernandez, who is only just now beginning to regain anything that resembles velocity (granted, in his case, millions of dollars are not at stake, but the point remains the same). And hell, last year they signed Lance Berkman to a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal while he was still coming off of major knee surgery--when they HAD NO IDEA IF HE WOULD BE ABLE TO RUN WELL ENOUGH TO PLAY HIS POSITION. I'm sure that contract's looking sweet to the Astros now as well, seeing as how Berkman's having surgery again.

Gaaaah.

Of course, if the Astros' insurance company is anything like mine, they'll find every reason they can to deny the claim on Bagwell.

Serves Uncle Drayton right.