On the Air w/ Wex: Nothing's changed w/ Drayton, Danica naked???

The Astros are not in the playoff race. That is a certainty. There is no great run. This is no great team. There's nothing wrong with that, but not facing that reality is the problem. It's admirable that the owner Drayton McLane always believes his team is competitive and will make a run, but his hopes in July and August every year inevitably come back to bite the team the next season.

They have now put both Jose Valverde and LaTroy Hawkins through waivers, but rather than moving them via trade, they pulled them back after they were claimed. They now cannot be traded. Neither has a contract for next year. Neither will be offered arbitration.

I wish I had an explanation for their personnel decisions. Holding onto to these players now makes very little sense, but by waiting until after the July 31 deadline, they are at the mercy of the waiver process. Of course there is interest in these guys and even a bidding war could've emerged. But not after July 31 once the player is claimed. The mystery team that put in a claim could very easily just be doing so to block a move to another team - thus making the Astros no legit offer to acquire Hawkins or Valverde.

The only hope is the $20-30 million they lop off the payroll from Tejade, Valderde and others will go into a reputable starting pitching acquisition. Jon Garland, Rich Harden, Justin Duchscherer, Doug Davis, Carl Pavano are some names to consider.

- So Roy O blasted just about everybody in the organization - except himself and Drayton. Lance called a players-only meeting toda y. GM Ed Wade wants names of the players that Roy thinks are dogging it. Then they beat the Cardinals in exciting come-from-behind fashion. Go figure.

- At least the minor leaguers produced a couple of game winning homers, including their top overall pick. Check the Corpus Christi game and the Greeneville game.
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Must-See Vids & Link Dump
- ESPN the Mag might finally be about to really give SI a serious run for top sports mag by angling for the swimsuit model audience. SportsByBrooks broke the story last night that a "Body Issue" is in the works which may mean clothed or disrobed females...let the mind start to wonder...no denials from Danica Patrick or her people regarding whether or not she's in it.
Let's start guessing about who else might be in there...(no sideline reporters suggestions please)
Natalie Gulbis ??
Gina Carano ??
Jennie Finch ??
Ashley Force ??

- Mike Vick returns to the NFL tonight, he already made a triumphant and odd return to an amusement park.

- Billy Clyde Gillispie gets accused of DUI for the 3rd time - yep THIRD TIME. Nice mug, BCG.

- Want a Longhorns blog that will drown you info about the team and the Big 12. Try burntorangenation.com. By the way, the Horns finally released their '09 depth chart. Oh and Happy 58th Mack!

- Did you catch Phil Simms' comments about the Vikings producing the same record with or without Favre?

- Cook County has another big showing tonight on campus in Austin at the Dobie. Nice article on our own John McClain who expands his acting horizons once again in this flick.

- Here's comical look at Brett Favre. Well done. I like that no attempt was made to have the characters bear any resemblance to the people they were portraying.