Houston Astros: Colby Rasmus turns the page for the Astros Future

Colby Rasmus wants to finish his career with the Houston Astros. What does this mean?

In a recent article by Evan Drellich for Chron.com Houston Astros’ Colby Rasmus said the following: “As I stand here right now, I’d like to see myself in Houston for the rest of my playing days,” Rasmus said Tuesday to reporters in San Antonio, including the Chronicle’s Brian Smith. “I would really like that. I think that would be great for my family. I enjoy it here. I think there’s great people, great atmosphere that they’re trying to create — the organization as a whole wanting to win and putting good players on the field.”

Rasmus just signed a contract for one year and 15.8 million dollars. I could ramble about how he is probably not worth this money, but the article isn’t about his worth, but the words that he said. Rasmus said he wanted to finish his career with the Astros. Rasmus is a player that started out with the Cardinals. He supposedly did not get along with them. He was then traded to the Blue Jays and again there were reports about him not getting along with the organization.

Since Rasmus joined the team last year, there hasn’t been one altercation between him and the organization. From the quotes above you can tell that he really loves where he is at with the Astros. He has never said that about any other team he has been on. This is Huge!

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This is huge for two reasons. One being, for the first time in a long time, somebody wants to play for the Astros. For about six years, the Astros were the laughing stock of the league. They lost 100 games in three straight years. During that time, no one in their right mind would every say that they want to finish their career with the Astros. They would be crazy to do so. With Rasmus saying this, the Astros have finally turned the page on being a bad place to play.

The second reason is that big time free agents in the near future could be coming to Houston soon. Free agents are looking for a few things in a team that they want to play potentially for. One would be money. The Astros payroll for this season is just below 100 million dollars, which means there is room to add some key players. The payroll next season according to Jon Morosi is:

The Astros need to spend the money soon, so they can upgrade at the positions of need. The second thing a free agent is looking for would be playing for a contender. The Astros are in an excellent position to win big next year and the years to come. It would be very easy for Luhnow to convince a free agent that winning is of the essence. It is almost a guarantee the Astros will win. Another critical aspect a free agent is looking for would be chemistry with a team. A player wants to feel comfortable with a team. He wants to make sure that the team wants what is in the best interest of the player. If you have watched the Astros, you can tell that everyone feels a part of the team, and you can tell each player wants the other players to succeed as well.

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Rasmus probably won’t be on the Astros the rest of his career and who even knows if he is with the team next year. But what Rasmus said should give the Astros and fans hope for the future. The Astros have finally turned the chapter on losing, and they look to now start attracting free agents to play in Houston. Who will be the next player to say they want to finish their career with the Astros?