Can this guy get anything done? In the past much has been made about his ability to stick with his guns and how that got us to the World Series. But after watching Nomar sign with the Dodgers with out the Stros even making a formal offer to him, it makes me wonder whether or not Tim is cut out for this job. Has he yet to done anything to change the team he inherited from Hunsicker? Nope. Has it gotten worse since Hunsicker left? Arguably yes.
I agree man he hasn't done anything since being named GM last year. His only 2 moves was to bring in John Franco and trade Redding for Quintero. Franco was horrible and we still don't know about Quintero. He refuses to trade prospects for good players and thats why nothing has happen yet.
Do we actually know the team never made a formal offer? I was under the impression that the Astros made an offer pretty close to what LA signed him for.
Exactly. We were mentioned as one of the two teams he was most likely to chose between and he picked the Dodgers because of the location, not because of the rumor that we didn't make him a formal offer. For all of you b****ing about Purpura, please tell me exactly what you would have done differently and explain how those moves were feasible with our current situations (Roger not even knowing if he will pitch next year or the uncertaintly surrounding Bags' shoulder). Please do not include any players who have not been moved unless you have verifiable proof of conversations that took place between our club and other teams. For example, please don't b**** about not trading for Ken Griffey, Manny Ramirez, Miguel Tejada or Adam Dunn.
Parameters were discussed and somehow I doubt Unka Drayton OK'd a 6mm offer for a guy injured more than DA or even Camby. TP may be used tp as a GM or he may be insightful and terrific and totally handcuffed in his ability to spend a buck or two. Or he may be terrible and unable to spend a buck or two. I believe truth is buried below our ability to see it (in Astros front office set up).
I'm pretty sure all four teams "in the running" for Nomar made an offer to him. Just because it wasn't publicized, doesn't mean anything. Hell... nobody here knew that we offered a 4 year 40 million dollar contract to AJ Burnett until after he told the media about it when he signed with Toronto... the Astros always take care of things out of the spotlight (and they did that with Hunsicker as well). Now, I've also gotta express some dissapointment in Tim, not because of his inability to sign a FA (honestly, out of this year's and last year's class, there weren't many fits)... but his inability to work out a trade for a big-time bat (which, albeit, is much harder to do... but it would suit our needs much much more). I'm not going to call him terrible until he's put in a position where he absolutely HAS to make a move to save this team... right now, the team is not in that position. They're a playoff contender as stands... and a World Series contender with one big-time bat. btw... where's that big deal Dalati?
Nomahh's over the hill. When he grabs his crotch and winces after every swing, the Dodgers will be wincing with him...
I don't buy this "stick with the group that got you into the world series" argument. Yes, they had some success last year, but that team had a lot of holes, especially on offense. They got swept in the WS, didn't they? Look at what the White Sox have done to improve their team this winter, and that's after they won the championship. The Astros cut their payroll by $18 mil. by not offering arbitration to Clemens. Now they need to do something with that money. Purpura, get off your ass and do something. Rondell White is not the answer.
Instead of b****ing, offer a solution. Out of the bats that were moved at the deadline, how many were worth disrupting team chemistry? We probably would've traded for another OF and that would've left Burke watching from the bench. The White Sox have improved, but they added guys that we could not have added if we wanted to. We weren't going to add a 1B when a) you don't know if Bagwell will be able to comeback or not and b) you have his replacement in Lance Berkman. Are you complaining that we didn't add Vasquez? The same guy who pitched like crap last year while complaining that his family was too far away from his native country? If Rondell White's not the answer, neither is Garciaparra. This team does not necessarily need a superstar bat. Regardless, most of you are b****ing just to b****. For some reason, this town is full of people who will b**** about their teams regardless of their success. We could trade for Manny Ramirez and half of you would b**** that we gave up too much. It's like clockwork.
1st View: The man can't complete deals or bring in help. 2nd View: The man isn't going to make a bad deal just to do something. Hard to tell if there have been any good moves to make, but I do prefer no moves to bad moves. Nomar for 5+ million would have been dumb. He's washed up and a b**** on top of that. We do need more help if we want to do anything this summer, though.
First off, Nomar selected the teams and said when he made a decision that then they could discuss financials. The four teams in the running had already made it clear they would pay what was necessary and Nomar wasn't trying to "gut" any team. Second, Purpura is still just an average g.m. until he makes a move that either hinders or helps the club. I have still yet to see a transaction that I thought, damn, we could have done that, why didn't we? Third, much like a noob on this forum, Purpura is getting his **** handed to him to see if he'll make a mistake, and so far that hasn't happened. Fourth, we have some pitching talent that could make it to the bigs and really improve our trade positioning, but as of right now, we aren't sure how good they will be. So would you like to trade away another Freddy Garcia when its apparent we will need the pitching? What's more is given the fact that these pitchers are unproven on the major league level and the fact that during the offseason, everyone other than the Marlins still have playoff hopes, there are no Randy Johnson's your going to get for prospects. Finally, I still am leaning towards the Purpura will probably be a mediocre gm bandwagon, but lets not crucify him because a player that has stated throughout his career that he would like to go back home to Cali bypassed us for the Dodgers.
Great post! There just hasn't been too many opportunities to improve the team so far this offseason. I liked the idea of Nomar, but not when he isn't going to be playing SS. There are still some interesting names in the OF (e.g. Preston Wilson, Rondell White and Reggie Sanders). However, if we are not sure what position Lance Berkman is playing next year, it won't be wise for the team to spend 5 mil a year on a backup.
Hunsicker was always able to find some kind of acquisition to make to improve our team like Mike Lamb, Carl Everett, Geoff Blum, etc. These were players I didn't really know a lot about until we picked them up. Purpura has failed on every attempted trade and free agent acquasistion so far, and the only thing he has on his resume is a World Series appearence which he gravy trained off another GM.
Exactly... and besides the Mets, who else in the NL has had a productive off-season? The fact is that there are a ton of teams that have holes out there, whether it be pitching or batting, and there's really not that many great players to fill them all (and thus, you have desperate teams offering insane contracts just for the sake of making a move). Look at the Cardinals... a team that may be as "complete" as any in baseball. They lost out on Burnett, they lost Morris, Grudzelanek, King, and Taveras to free agency... and then they go and sign Braden freaking Looper to a 3 year guaranteed deal for greater than $13 million (which is a totally insane guaranteed contract for a pitcher who will not be your starter or closer). They're still feeling some of the sting of trading their best young pitcher (Haren), and their best blue-chip prospect (Barton... who will be a stud) for an aging Mulder... at this point, I think Walt Jocketty would gladly rescind that trade, given that Mulder is not an ace anymore, and his team didn't win the world series. And for those who don't believe this team won't be in the running next year, so be it.... I'll take a full year of Lance, Ensberg, Biggio and possibly Bagwell along with Pettite and Oswalt manning the staff (and the Qualls/Wheeler/Lidge combo at the end)... there aren't many other NL teams that would be markedly better than that. (that being said, they still need a bat like White, or Encarcion).
