He made the moves to put to try and put our team over the top, granted most of them didn't work but I would much rather see a GM not afraid to bring in the big name guys for our team to go somewhere special. If you are refering to the Randy Johnson deal, yeah that was a move that probably didn't need to be made, but we had to 2 20 game win starters as it was but he knew we were close to make a run for the title. Can't blame a guy for jumping the gun, in order to make a run at the penant.
I don't blame that at all. That was a necessary risk. I'm talking about the poor draft management in the early stages of this decade. This franchise didn't draft well at all for a few years (under Hunsicker's guidance, as I understand his role), and it's paying a price for that now. I'm not saying it's the only reason they're struggling, but it's one of them.
McHale-Look at his moves prior to this trade. Wasn't even talking about the KG deal. Two words: Joe Smith. Thomas-Just because a GM tries to improve there team doesn't mean he is a good GM. Every GM tries to improve their team. Isiah has made some of the worst trades and free agent signings in recent NBA history. He can draft well, though. Look, Timmy P made a bad trade for Jennings, but at the time it didn't seem bad. Hirsch is not a very good pitcher and would have trouble in our rotation. Bucholz is a non-factor and was demoted early on. Losing Willy T hurt, but we needed a quality #2 over a lead off hitter with speed. Please show me your posts saying that Jennings was going to suck this year and I will consider this point of yours valid. The only deal he made? Who signed Loretta and Lee? Who got rid of Ensberg? (Finally!) Look, he's made some bad moves (Woody Williams, letting Pettite go, etc..), but he is far from the worst GM in MLB, let alone in professional sports.
i dunno what channel its on, can some1 fill me in on whats gion on in the press conference is it just a we will be contenders soon one
Boooooooooooooooooooo! Ensberg to Padres only move as deadline passes ATLANTA – A difficult situation turned into a blessing for Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg, who was traded to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named or cash considerations two days after he was designated for assignment. Ultimately Ensberg was the only Astros traded as the non-waiver trade deadline elapsed at 3 p.m. After entertaining offers for Mark Loretta and Mike Lamb and hearing plenty of interest in relievers Chad Qualls and Brad Lidge, the Ensberg trade was the only one the Astros made. “The players that we talked about getting back from other teams were not close to what we valued for our players,” general manager Tim Purpura said via phone from Houston. “It made no sense to give away our players.” Ensberg, a native of the Los Angeles area, actually has a home in the San Diego area, where he spends much of his winter when he’s not at home in Houston. “I think it was absolutely the best scenario,” he said. “This season was very turbulent. It was difficult. I wish I had done better, but once everything kind of went down you feel down and then you have this blessing. It really is a blessing from God. I’m certain of it.” Ensberg, 31, and his wife Christi were already planning on flying to San Diego today with their one-year-old twins, Beckett and Chase. “I’m shocked,” said Ensberg, who hit .232 (52-for-224) with eight home runs and 31 RBIs this year. “My wife and I are so happy we get a chance to get back there. I really was just speechless when Tim (Purpura) told me I was going out there. I can’t wait to go have Mexican food.” Other teams also coveted Qualls and Lidge. “We certainly would have liked to be more active,” Purpura said. “At the end, there was no trade other than Ensberg. We were not just going to move one of our good relievers for just prospects that were years away.”
wow, the sharks have turned on hunsicker, it sucks to be an ex astro in this forum. you guys have to be kidding. hunsicker depleted the farm system, when? when he trade for randy johnson. and gave up to pitchers, only to replace them with oswalt and what should have been a solid carlos heranandez. he depleted the farm system when he traded for beltran? giving up who, dotel?
Why do we keep getting players from the worst team in baseball? Well, we are not that far from having a worse record then Tampa so if that's Timmy's goal we are almost there. Purpura is on the fast track to winning the Casserly award. I just hope Timmy P is not the salesman Casserly is and hustles his way into holding on to his job for an extra 3-4 years. BTW... Timmy P is very fat.
Houston doesn't have Mexican food?!? I wonder what the Taqueria served me for lunch. Italian perhaps!
I'm wondering if the report of there being a press conference was wrong. Seriously, why would you call a press conference just to stand up there and be subjected to questions about all the deals you could have/should have done in the eyes of reporters? They're certainly not going to have more than a few questions about the Ensberg reade (it's pretty straightforward). The presser never made much sense from a PR persepctive if it's only about MoBerg. EDIT: What's on 610/790 right now?
My remarks could easily have been taken out of context. Hunsicker was the best GM in the history of the Astros franchise. I don't mean to devalue that fact (OK, opinion--but an accurate one IMO!). He was the greatest, but he weren't perfect. Between '99 and '03 we made quite a few trades, most of them not blockbusters, that involved our prospects. Off the top of my head, I can only recall the Wagner trade and the Hampton and Everett trades bringing prospects back. I heard and read a lot of talk--not a little--back then, not just now--of the Astros' farm system not being what it once had been. Add to this the bad drafts from '99 to '03, and the farm is in quite a pickle. But despite that criticism, Hunsicker was the best.
I think the main argument by the "Hunsicker haters" is that he did not replenish the farm system via some good drafts... he also didn't get good value for Billy Wagner, and left the farm system in pretty bad shape (which is why you have the lull between breakthrough position players from Berkman to Pence). Also, he did give up John Buck in the Beltran deal... but I would have still done both that deal, and the Randy Johnson deal, if the opportunity presented itself again (along with the Barkley deal).
They're not talking about baseball at all on 610. They're just rambling on a lot of random comments... bonds, vick, funny emails. No true Astros insight.
While I don't think the trade shouldn't have been done, Hun gave up Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, & John Halama. Halama is the only one of those 3 that haven't been a recent All-Star. In hindsight, it wasn't the best trade. At the time, it was what the team needed to make a run for the World Series. We just ran into that damn Kevin Brown and Sterling Hitchcock. Don't forget that John Buck was in that Beltran deal. Same as the RJ deal, I would have done it, too. But Buck could be the starting catcher on this team right now...
To be fair to Hunsicker, it's not like he was the one actually scouting all these players around the country and Caribbean and such. He was relying on the reports of his scouting department, I assume. Unlike trades and free-agent signings where the GM is directly involved in the decision-making and the players are much more well-known, I imagine the GM's role in a draft is more of an overseer/manager than anything else. I think you can maybe blame him for hiring crappy scouts or whatnot, but it's hard to directly blame him for the results of those drafts. Anyone know anything about our scouting and what happened to make the drafting go downhill so much from the days of the Oswalts?
Losing those prospects in the johnson trade doesn't hurt till now though. I admit I don't know much about basdeball drafts so I'm not even going to delve into that argument, only ask if wasn't a lot of that also purpura's responsibility?
I personally don't remember a Joe Smith deal, know there was just don't remember players involved. I am not labeling Thomas a good GM far from it, I am suprised he lasted this long but their owner is a bigger moron than he is. His signings have been bad but he felt these were the moves that he needed, basically was trying to put a "fantasy team" instead of a real basketball team. I did think the move for Jennings was a bad move and thought we should of rather signed Pettite because that basically meant the returning of Roger Clemens. As well as dealing 3 of our best prospects, for a one year run. But I guess in the end it turns out to be a good thing we didn't offer him an extension. That sad it is true I never thought Jennings would suck like he has this season. Not sure if I posted about it but that was the truth, I thought Willy Taveras was much more than a solid lead off hitter with speed, he is probably the 2nd best fielding CF with a strong arm that worked wonders with our hill and having Lee in left. By deals I meant trades, Lee and Loretta turned to be good signings. I liked Loretta's versatility but thought we overspended for Lee, turns out I was wrong at that one, if Berkman was having just an average year for him, Lee would have been that much better. Woody Williams I didn't mind the idea of bringing him in, but thought we offered him a ridiculous contract and way too many years. Pupura's reason for signing him because he always pitched good at our park, but one short detail he forgot to mention he was pitching against our offense. Maybe I went over the top in worst GM in all of sports, but by far worst GM in baseball. It is hard for me to say this about my team because I once was a bigger Astros fan than Rockets, and still to this day almost never miss a game. There was plenty of interest in Lamb, and Loretta, and we pretty much know that neither of them will be on our team next season, instead of getting something for them. He stands pat without even getting any prospects for them. The season has been over for us since the first month and a half. Though the idea of having the idea of Chris Burke being our opening day 2nd baseman gives me sick pain in my stomach.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong: My understanding of it is no, he wasn't responsible at all. As the director of player development, he was responsible for the development of whomever joined the organization (the farm system), but had no say in who came and went via trade, draft, Rule V, or minor league FA.
