Desperate times?

The Astros called up Hunter Pence and are sitting Chris Burke. (I'm going to the game tonight, so I'll get to see his debut.)

Now, I'm not a Chris Burke fan, obviously, so his being benched doesn't bother me. I've always thought their insistence on playing Burke was to give him a chance to justify being a first-round pick. And you know, that's reasonable. . . but there are plenty of players throughout the league who never lived up to their perceived potential. I've felt for a while now that Burke was just average, but of course I don't care for him personally so that colors my viewpoint.

So are the Astros now willing to possibly say that he hasn't panned out like they thought he would (or did he just piss somebody off)? And I understand the argument that player development takes time, and certainly Burke won't get any better riding the pine (which will also diminish his trade potential). But how long do you give somebody? How long should they give Hunter Pence?

I first thought that this move smacked of desperation in light of a seven-game losing streak.

Now, I think it's even more ominous. To me, it says, who is running this team? Is it Garner? Purpura? Uncle Drayton? First Burke had a job, which he "earned," now he doesn't. A lot of people thought Pence deserved to make the team out of Spring Training, but he didn't. Lidge was the closer coming out of Spring Training, but after two outings, he wasn't anymore. The list goes on.

The Astros' management looks clueless right now. I am much more concerned about their apparent floundering than I am about losing seven games.