They got rid of him because they were going to rebuild and as great a player as he is his talents were going to waste, so they traded him for prospects the team desperately needed.
Thanks for the explanation. We used to go to ‘stros games but haven’t for a couple of years. Would appear they need to do more rebuilding. We’ll probably go to a few Rice games next year since Lance is part of their unofficial coaching staff. We’ve tended to shy away from most things in Houston, particularly pro sports, and go to college and local high school games which really are much more interesting - except, of course, we do watch J.J.