SAN DIEGO - Last week in Houston the Astros fans took a poll during the
San Francisco Giants games on June 12. The poll included questions
as "how do you think the astros will fair in three years?" and "where will
the astros finish at the end of the year?". Also, they were asked who their
favorite Astros player was, and as you may have guessed, Johnson, Bagwell, 
and Reynolds were the top 3. At the bottom of the form it asked if there 
was one thing the Astros could do to bring back the fans what would that 
be. Some wrote in, "win a pennant". Some wrote "get rid of the manager", 
and some just said "MOVE", but the thing most wrote in the form was, "Trade". 
The fans wanted to bring in new players to spark new life. After a 4-2 week, 
the Astros seemed to be growing new life, but the Pirates and Cubs don't 
look to be slowing down. Well, the Astros Management brought about a 
trade day which may change the team for the next few years. 

The first trade was talked about since last Wednsday and it was finally 
executed today. At 6:00 Central time the Houston Astros traded Free Agent 
Jon Lieber, and pitcher Donne Wall in exchange for Oakland A's Left Fielder 
Brooks Kieschnick and Pitcher Kirk Dressendorfer. Dressendorfer will take 
over Lieber's position at Long Relief, while Brooks will get his chance at 
Left Field. That leads to the next trade which was executed later in the day. 
At around 7:30 Central time, the Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox 
made a 9 player deal happen. The Astros sent second baseman Kary Bridges, 
Pitcher John Hudek, Pitching prospect Kevin Gallaher, Right Fielder 
Derek Bell and Right Field prospect Domingo Leppert to Chicago in exchange 
for Pitcher Luis Andujar, shortstop Bill Ardizoia, third baseman Greg Norton, 
and great pitching prospect Archie Vazquez.

GM Erik Elden had to say, "Well, we are hoping to bring back fans and get a 
good team of for the future. I know Derek Bell was a big fan getter, but 
Brooks Kieschnick is younger and will be just as good someday."

Derek Bell will be a free agent at the end of next year. Luis Andujar will 
also be a free agent at the end of next year as he signed a one year contract. 
Brooks signed a 2 year deal reaching 2.3 million dollars. 

Brooks Kieschnick commented on his recent signing, "I'm happy to be with a 
team trying to contend. Oakland has had a bad couple of years in the past, 
and they too are trying to rebuild. Hopefully I can adjust to my regular 
position at Left Field [Oakland was playing Brooks Kieschnick at thirdbase] 
and provide some offense."

In other disturbing news, Pitcher Johnny Ruffin was arrested Saturday 
night after starting a brawl in San Antonio, Texas after a game. Johnny 
reportedly arrived at the bar called "Moe's" at 11:30 P.M. Johnny got into 
an arguement with a drunk man named Barney Gumble. The two got into a fist 
fight which resulted in a police call. Ruffin will be charged $1500 and 
a 10 game suspension. This was the second time Ruffin was taken to jail in 
3 months. The other time was for a speeding ticket, which turned into a DWI 
after leading the police on a nearly 2 hour chase. He was charged $1000 for 
his altercations, and an additional $2200 for damages done to public property.