Now that a strike has been averted, Drayton McLane can go back to moaning about how much money he loses. We've been down this road before (here and here). As before, the Chron is as critical of McLane's claims as they once were of Enron's business model.

I don't doubt that the Texans have diverted attention from the Astros, but c'mon. Counting the preseason, they'll play maybe four or five home games before the World Series. Not all of those games will occur when the Stros are at Your Name Here Field. The Rockets don't even start playing until October. Are you saying that people would rather sit at home and watch local news coverage of the Texans and Yao Ming instead of coming out to the park? If so, McLane has a bigger problem than he thinks.

Finally, as is the case with so many other teams, the Astros create their own payroll woes by overpaying for replaceable talent like Orlando Merced and Jose Vizcaino, a fact that goes largely unnoticed when they start whining about how they can't afford to keep Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt. It's a simple matter of priorities and budgeting. Why are you tying up capital in non-essential commodities when you know you've got more important expenses looming? I'll bet McLane doesn't run his grocery distribution business that way.