Let's make a deal
That pitching is going to be wasted if Purpura doesn't add a hitter. His problem will be finding a trading partner.
Twelve of the National League's 16 teams are still in contention. In the American League, nine of 14 teams are close enough to dream.
So the list of available players will be short. Miguel Tejada, Andruw Jones, Carl Crawford, Alfonso Soriano and Bobby Abreu could be available by the July 31 trading deadline.
Purpura has done almost everything right until now. He was right not to sign a veteran outfielder after Carlos Beltran departed. He was right to stick with the young players last summer.
It's easy to underestimate doing nothing. He had veteran options, but he believed in his own kids.
A friend challenged me the other day about the lack of moves last winter.
"You've got to keep getting better," he said. "They didn't."
Actually, they did. First of all, they had virtually no payroll flexibility. Second, they didn't know what they had.
Purpura would have been silly to pull the plug on Lane, Willy Taveras or Chad Qualls. All three seemed to be getting better, not worse.
Purpura believed in them. He knew they all wouldn't make it, but he saw them do extraordinary things in 2005.
Purpura's strength is his experience in player development. His job as farm director required a relentless optimism to see every 18-year-old kid as the next Roger Clemens or Lance Berkman.
Years after a man named Sandy Johnson signed a skinny little kid named Sammy Sosa, I asked if he had a hunch great things were ahead.
"I sure did," he said, "but I signed dozens that year. I had a hunch about all of them."
That attitude is perfect for a building team. It can be a killer for a general manager with a team that should be changed.
McLane shouldn't let an opportunity pass. He shouldn't use a $104.5-millon payroll as an excuse. There's relief next winter thanks to the uncertain status of Jeff Bagwell, Clemens and Pettitte.
In another era, a team with a 41-42 record wouldn't have playoff dreams. This is a different era.
There's more parity and fewer dominant teams. This is an opportunity for a team like the Astros. They shouldn't let it pass.