pish-posh. it was an attempt to address a glaring need and attempt to *win*. professional franchises don't make near the concerted efforts to cater to the unwashed masses that we like to pretend they do.
I don't see a big issue with the Cruz situation. They have offered him, what looks to be, a pretty high profile PR role. I loved seeing Cruz at 1st base, but it won't really affect me seeing him in the company box that the coach's box. As long as the Astros keep him in some capacity, everyone wins IMO.
Looks like he'll be a co-minor league pitching cordinator, I think he had the same role with us till he was promoted to PC.
Certainly - but the two aren't mutually exclusive. At the time, Drayton was desperate to make a splash after enduring lots of criticism during 2005 and 2006 for the offense. I think you'd be surprised. Can you really tell me there wasn't a team in the league that couldn't have used a 1.000+ OPS Barry Bonds in their lineup last year, even for 50 games? He offered to play for the minimum and still not a single taker? Same with Vick - there are plenty of teams that could have used him in some form or another, but most ruled it out from day 1. None of these teams in both leagues wanted the PR repercussions of it. Tom Hicks made a PR move when he paid A-Rod $25MM a year in a market where no one else was being paid more than about $15MM. Teams do make personnel moves based on PR - and with good reason. Their long-term revenue base is built around the franchise building a connection with the city. Most are more subtle than the above examples, but they definitely occur all the time. But what you ideally want are PR moves that also are good personnel moves. When you start having conflict between the two (Barry Bonds, for example), that's where you have a problem. With Jose Cruz, I'm not suggesting that getting rid of him was a good or a bad thing - I really don't know what on earth a 1st Base coach really even does. But if the reason to keep him was simply PR, that's a bad reason - that's all I'm saying (unless a 1st Base coach has no real role of any sort).
I enjoyed the success we had under Garner, but I remember being dumbfounded on how he would seemingly always mess up the double-switch. He'd take out Berkman (or someone of that ilk) because he made the last out and then if the game went into extra innings or whatnot, we'd be without our best hitter. Yes, he executed the move properly (replacing the guy who made the last out and putting the pitcher in his spot in the order), but we'd end up blowing the save and having our pitcher batting third or fourth and losing a big stick. It worked out in the Braves clincher - where Burke (the defensive replacement) hit the homerun, but didn't he have Berkman for extra innings. Maddening, I tell ya! Also, maybe we should look into bringing back Rudy Jaramillio as the hitting coach since he decided not to return to Texas. Would love for Rudy to get a shot to work with the youngsters - primarily Johnson, Manzella, and Towles.
Cheo worked with the OFers on defense, hitting fungos and whatnot. I'm getting a kick out of much in this thread: "I have no idea what he did, but firing him was bad." Sean Berry is a highly regarded hitting coach, if statements about his methods/approach and quotes from the players are to be believed (and that's really all you should go on). Dewey was not particularly liked by the pitching staff, yet has an excellent reputation for working with the minor leaguers (can't explain the dichotomy there). Clark is a quite competent bench/base coach, well thought of by his players and will make a quality manager someday, somewhere; whoever said he is "terrible" is straight-up wrong. The individual coaches, with the exception of the bench coach, don't really depend on the manager. They're pretty much autonomous (they're hired, or their job description is, to follow the philosophy of the organization as a whole, especially wrt the hitting/pitching coach).
Click2Houston.com has the press conference video : http://www.click2houston.com/video/21308119/index.html
Now that the Ballon Boy drama is over I can get back to the "SEARCH". Yost gives me a really good vibe after watching the Press Conference. I liked him alot in Milwaukee and think he got a raw deal two years ago.
These two guys are my favorites to be offfered the job along with Scraps... http://brianmctaggart.mlblogs.com/ Closer look at Bob Melvin and Manny Acta Day 3 of the Astros' managerial search continues today when two of the candidates I consider the favorites come to Minute Maid Park -- former Arizona manager Bob Melvin and former Washington manager Manny Acta. Both men told MLB.com last week they were candidates and were looking forward to coming to Houston. Here's a look at Melvin and Acta. Bob Melvin Age: 47 Hometown: Palo Alto, Calif. College: California. Most recent job: Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Previous Major League managing experience: Managed the Seattle Mariners in 2003-04 and Arizona Diamondbacks from 2005 until he was dismissed on May 9 of this year after a 12-17 start. He won 93 games with Seattle in 2003 but didn't make the playoffs and lost 99 games the following year. Melvin was hired by the Diamondbacks and led Arizona to the 2007 NL West title before being swept in the NLCS by the Colorado Rockies. He was NL Manager of the Year in 2007. Minor League managing experience: None. Minor League managing record: None. Playing experience: Melvin spent most of his career as a backup catcher for 10 seasons with Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Kansas City, Boston, the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox. He hit .233 with 35 homers and 212 RBIs in 692 career games. Did you know: Melvin was hired by Arizona to replace Wally Backman, who was dismissed before he managed a single game because of past discretions? What GM Ed Wade said: "Once we started to focus in on some names and we did our homework and talked to people like Pat Gillick and [former Diamondbacks general manager] Joe Garagolia Jr., they thought he did a good job." Manny Acta Age: 40 Hometown: San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. College: None Most recent job: Manager of Washington Nationals. Previous Major League managing experience: Acta managed the Washington Nationals from 2007-2009 and never finished higher than fourth place in the NL East, which came during his first season when he went 73-89. Acta was fired July 12 after a loss to the Astros. Major League managing record: 163-254. Minor League managing experience: Began managing at 1993 with the Auburn Astros of the New York-Penn League before moving to Quad City of the Midwest League in 1997. He took over the Astros' Gulf Coast League affiliate at Kissimmee in 1999 and won a league championship and managed again at Kissimmee in 2000. Minor League managing record: 419-432. Playing experience: Acta played for five seasons in the Astros' Minor League system and was a career .241 hitter in 370 games. He never played above the Double-A level. Did you know: The plane that crashed in 2006 that killed Yankees pitcher Cory Lidge crashed into Acta's apartment in New York? Acta was the third-base coach with the Mets at the time. What Acta said: "It is a very special organization to me. I spent 16 years of my baseball career over there. I owe them for shaping me into the baseball man that I'm today."
McTaggart's rankings thus far (via) brianmctaggart 5 of 10 Astros managerial candidates have interviewed. Here are my rankings: 1, Melvin. 2, Yost. 3, Clark. 4, Ready. 5, Pedrique.
He's interested in the Cleveland job so I don't think Houston would have been a problem. Money is a possible reason though which is a shame.
Better situation in Cleveland though. They were ranked 7th in BA's 2009 Organization Talent Rankings, while the Astros are dead last, and that was before the Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez deals.
