The Astros' Manager Incentivizes His Players By Awarding A $200 Set Of Headphones After Every Win

We've made a lot of fun of the Astros recently. Just this morning, even. (Hey, at least we're paying attention.) But the joke of a roster they field and joke of a style they play likely leads you to mistaken assumptions. It probably makes you think the Astros aren't a first-class organization devoted to rewarding and honoring their players, and arming them with the necessary tools for success during and after their baseball careers. You're wrong. Here's the Associated Press:

Tony DeFrancesco believes rewarding his team for good performances is important.

So Houston's interim manager decided he would gift a pair of $200 headphones to one standout player in each Astros win.

He left the ballpark on Tuesday night $1,000 lighter after handing out five pairs due to all the contributions in the 1-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.

You might expect the ol' snarky blogger routine here. But no! $200 pairs of headphones don't just grow on trees, OK? Especially if they're those Dr. Dre over-ear types, which are all the rage now. Mickey Storey and Chuckie Fick—seriously, these are actual Houston Astros—may have only a couple years left at the league minimum before they head back home to pump gas until they croak. Don't they deserve some bassy swag along the way?

The real problem here is that the Astros have a roster full of players so bad and poorly paid that they might actually play harder for fancy headphones. That's how the manager's logic works, anyway. It's much more bush league than big league.

Jimmy Paredes atones for flubs with lone run as Astros beat Cubs [AP, via ESPN, h/t Griffin]