Who was the worst?
Examining which team signed the worst free agent in Houston sports history
May 4, 2020, 12:13 pm
There are four players in particular that two Houston teams regret signing, but who are they?
At the number one spot is Brock Osweiler who was brought here from the Denver Broncos. Osweiler signed a four-year contract for $72 million on March 9th, 2016. Houstonians thought it was an answer from God, but things did not go as planned. Osweiler was not successful for the Houston Texans. He got benched in week 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Houston crowd actually cheered when he was benched.
Osweiler eventually regained his starting job because of Tom Savage's concussion in week 17. There were multiple rumors that Osweiler and Bill O'Brien got into a heated discussion in the Titans' locker room. Even though Osweiler won a playoff game, he went 8-6 as a starting quarterback, and had a disappointing 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. After the season, Houston was able to get rid of the contract by trading him to the Cleveland Browns along with Houston's 2nd round pick. The Osweiler chapter was closed.
Coming in second is Ahman Green who the Texans signed from the Green Bay Packers. Green was a four-time Pro Bowler with the Packers, and signed a four-year 23 million dollar deal with the Texans. The hope was that he would bring his skills to Houston and have a great finish to his career. He struggled with the death of his father, a family feud with his daughter, and a knee injury. Green only played six games, ran for 250 yards, and only had two touchdowns. This was not a good signing by the Texans to say the least.
In third place is Ed Reed who signed a three-year 15 million dollar deal with the Texans. At the time Reed had just won a Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2013, was a nine-time pro-bowler, and was still looked at as one of the best safeties in football. The Texans did not get off to a good start that season. Reed only had 16 tackles in six games and lost his starting job after making his debut against the Ravens week 3. Houston was 2-7 after a 27-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Reed made comments that questioned the coaching on the Texans staff. When those comments were made, the Texans released him.
Texans To Release Ed Reed - SportsCenter (11-12-2013)youtu.be
In fourth place is Scottie Pippen who signed a five-year 67 million dollar deal with the Houston Rockets. Pippen wanted to team up with Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley to win a championship. He mentioned on ESPN's The Jump that the Rockets wanted him to be a three-point shooter while Olajuwon and Barkley posted up. Pippen only played 50 games while averaging 14.5 points per game. The seven-time All-Star and six-time champion did not plan out in Houston. Barkley was upset and wanted an apology from Pippen after asking for a trade to leave Houston. Pippen felt like Barkley did not work hard enough to win a championship, and many Houston fans believed that Pippen quit on the Rockets.
Pippen vs Barkley's "sorry fat butt"youtu.be
There you have it.
There are plenty of other bad contracts that did not get discussed, so feel free to mention them on Twitter and Facebook.
Hopefully, Houston teams have learned from their mistakes.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.