Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Richard Justice wants us to believe that, because Drayton McLane is not raising ticket prices, that the Astros can kiss Jake Peavy goodbye. This is so, Justice says, because it means that Drayton won't have the revenue it will take to pay Peavy.

And that's probably true.

But here's the thing. Money isn't the problem with getting Jake Peavy. The lack of talent to trade for Jake Peavy is the problem.

Drayton could hike the prices up so that he could afford a New York Yankees payroll and that still wouldn't solve the Astros problem of not having the available talent to trade to San Diego for Jake Peavy. It doesn't matter how much Drayton raises the payroll when it comes to Jake Peavy. The Padres don't care about the Astros payroll. They care about the young talent in the Astros farm system.

And there ain't any.

Now, Justice could be correct in that not raising the ticket prices Drayton is indicating that he's not going to raise the payroll. And that might mean that Drayton's not going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for Ben Sheets or Derek Lowe or Jon Garland or some other free agent that may be able to help the Astros. But it's got nothing to do with Jake Peavy.

Richard Justice should know that. If he doesn't, he's a fool who doesn't deserve a column. If he does, then he doesn't deserve a column for thinking that we're fools.