Astros fire Garner and Purpura... Cecil Cooper named Interim Manager

They wanted to, but the commissioner asked not to have him fired over the break to distract from the All-Star Game.

 

Yes, Purpura was putting all his donut bills on the expense account which costs more than Drayton profits.

 

Doc beat MattJ to the scoop.

 

Hey Tim and Phil.....

 

I'm just happy Purpura's incompetent ass is gone. I could care less about Garner either way on all of this. THANK YOU DRAYTON.

No moves at the trade deadline (and I'm not talking about trading for now, I'm talking about trading for the future and improving the farm system so you have a fighting chance for the future, which currently looks bleak) coupled with the fact that we didn't even sign our draft picks because they were asking a little too much money? They're ****ing prospects TIM, how much money can you really give to prospects? Good riddance.

 

Houston, your Astros just got a whole lot thinner.

 

Uncle Drayton - F : he approved the deals Pupura made, so he shares the responsibility. He blew the Pettite deal and lost Roger as an unintended consequence. Who, but him, is responsible for not signing our draft picks?

Pupura - F : IMHO, he just doesn't know baseball and definitely is lacking in negotiation skills. The 2 for 1 trade to acquire Jennings has never made sense. The Carlos Lee deal is the only bright spot in a terrible record. The current weaknesses in the farm system can be directly laid at his feet, since he was formerly responsible for Player Development. Signing Woody Williams turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Wiggonton is not an upgrade over Ensberg, an average performer at best,

Garner - D- : questionable decisions on both offense and defense. IMO, he overplayed the percentages to a point that a number of games were lost late because the player or players who might have mad a difference were already out of the game. His misguided loyalty to the players (or maybe at the direction of management?) had been costly, e.g. Lane, Burke, Lidge, Biggio (mostly on the road), et al. But this was the resources Pupura gave him, and he probably did as well as he could with them. And they're all Cecil will have to work with as well.

The players - D : a few bright spots, e.g. Lee, Pence, Loretta, Lamb. Bad luck: Everett, Scott, Pence, Roy O with injuries. Terrible season (law of averages or something) for Berkman. Too many players no longer playing at their best (Biggio, Ausmus, Wandy, Woody).

 

This just shows how clulelss you are... what intention would Pupura have to save money? Its not his money, he's not paying a dime of his own money for these players.

Hell, HE CHOSE these players... its up to somebody else to actually make the commitment to sign them.

The only solution to the draft is what the Astros have been doing for years anyways... draft players much higher than they're worth simply because they're more signable for the bargain basement money they set aside for the draft (unless they're good ol boys like Berkman or Patton... who was represented by Berkman's dad).

 

Finally some good news. I wonder if the entire crowd booing Purpura at the Bagwell ceremony was the straw that broke the camel's back?

 

Thank you. I wasn't really paying much attention to that fact. I was looking to place more blame on Purpura just because really. I still was never Purpura's biggest advocate and definitely glad he is gone.

That being said, Nick, do you really believe it was strictly McLane blocking all signings of our prospects? Most importantly, what about not trading any of our players at the deadline for prospects that we CERTAINLY could have gotten to help us in our long-term future?

 

........................Dumb..................................Dumber

Finally, Dumb & Dumber are outta here!

 

The only player who a.) the fans would have been fine with letting go with, and b.) could bring back quality prospects in return, was Brad Lidge... and even then, the Astros (at the time) likely wouldn't be getting the same value for him that they can possibly get if he finishes the season strong (ie - continues to pitch like he has for the last two months).

Were you willing to part with Oswalt or Berkman? There's no way they can trade Lee... not just half a year after they signed him (or else don't expect any other big name player to sign here). I'm sorry... but Wandy+Sampson and Jason Lane doesn't bring back quality prospects. Even Mike Lamb doesn't have much trade value for teams that desperate enough for a 3B upgrade that they'd take Mike Lamb.

The only solution to the GM position is to not hire a lackey (which Tim essentially was)... hire somebody established who will demand the power to run the team without owner involvement (kinda like Parcells did with the Cowboys).

The problem is... what established GM will actually believe the Astros will give him that? They already saw what happened to Hunsicker, and how he frankly couldn't take Drayton's involvement anymore.

Don't get me wrong... the Astros are much better off now with Drayton than they ever were during all those wasted years before him... but as long as he's the owner, it will always be HIS team, in all ways shape and form... and every move will have to be met with his approval.

 

First moves by Cooper. Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz promoted to bench coach. Bullpen coach, Mark Bailey, new first-base coach. Also, expect a lineup change for Tuesday.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...RvLYF?slug=ap-astrosfirings&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

Really? I remember around here at the time, a Lamb/Loretta package was rumored to be among the more popular choices. Lamb and Loretta really couldn't have fetched much you think? At the same Loretta was scalding the ball (not with power, but with a .300+ avg) and Lamb's a decent left-handed bat. I just.. I'm left scratching my head at the trade deadline still.

 

I'm glad that Purpura is gone. Purpura's lack of moves before the trade deadline (moving Lamb, Loretta and Lidge at the All-Star Break) and the bad moves that he has made (signing Williams and trading for Jennings) showed Purpura's lack of skills as GM. I however cannot take away from his talent of building the farm system in the late 90's to make us one of the top organizations in the league.

As far as letting Garner go, I'm not too happy about it. I understand that you cannot fire all the players and the manager usually takes the fall. Garner made some bad moves with his "gut" instincts, but I always felt like he was a good manager and got the most out of his players.

IMHO it all starts at the top. Drayton has to realize that this is a baseball team and that it has to be run as a team and not a business. Drayton needs to give the new GM some autonomy as far as rebuilding the minor league system and acquiring new players for the big league club. I'm not saying that there should be no questions with the payroll, but there should be some flexibility with it.

It all starts with hiring a GM with a good background with developing player personnel, but can manage a big league club as well. Hopefully Drayton will learn from having Purpura as a yes-man and decide that putting baseball people in charge will get this team to winning again.

 

First of all, we as Astros fans always tend to overrate our own... you have to ask yourself which team, likely in contention if they're going to give up decent prospects, is in the market for a career backup third baseman with fielding issues (and a free agent to be) as well as a 36 year old infielder who wasn't going to be hitting at the rate he was as the season went on (and sure enough, with the grind starting to set in, Loretta has declined).

Sure, you could sell them for some team's castoff prospects (think Buchholz/Astacio), but you're not going to get the blue chip with just those two.

 

Purpura said that the offers for Lamb & Loretta included only minor league prospects, and not even ones that had a real chance of making the big leagues. I heard that on the 10th inning show a few days ago.

 

I have more complaints with Garner than Purpura. Garner has always concerned me from the standpoint that he rarely uses logic to defend his in-game decisions. For example, one of the most inexplicable managerial decisions I've ever seen (and I know I harp on this) is not pinch-hitting Palmeiro for Taveras with a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the ninth in Game 3 of the World Series. All they needed was any form of contact... even a slow ground ball... and they left a somewhat strikeout-prone hitter who isn't good at situational hitting (i.e. elevating a fly ball to the OF) just a year removed from AA. It was a slam dunk decision, and could've turned the series around. After the game, he dismissed it as a gut decision.

Too many strange things these last few years have been dismissed as "gut decisions." For example, playing Lane over Burke in center during Pence's absence. Ignoring periods where Ensberg started making solid contact this season in favor of a third baseman with no power whatsoever (Loretta). Keeping Biggio at the top of the lineup because "he's done it before." Keeping Scott on the bench for extended stretches in favor of Mike Lamb (proven part-time player) and Loretta. It's fine to go on hunches on occasion, but when it becomes somewhat of a long-term plan, it needs to be make sense, and a lot of decisions did not.

With Purpura, I'm torn. It's funny that I'm labeled as a Purpura apologist, because in 2005 I was extremely tough on him for not making a deal at the deadline, while many others were giving him outs. But in recent times, I feel for the guy. I still agree with the decision-making behind the Jennings trade (and honestly, I still don't hate it, don't think we lost anything of real value and might have benefited from losing Taveras), and think he was extremely unlucky. With Ensberg, I understand they could've dealt him in the offseason for a mediocre prospect. But even though his second half of 2006 was poor, his OPS for the season was .850 and was close to 1.000 the season before. I don't blame the guy for having realistic hope he would bounce back and thinking he should bring back a quality addition via the trade market. I think that's again more terrible luck.

I also know his hands are tied by Drayton. He didn't have a choice but to plug in a well below average 2B because Drayton and the team wanted the 3,000 hits windfall. He didn't have the choice not to go after Jennings or Garland or another SP, because Drayton wants the quick fix. Some of you blame the offseason plan for merely attempting to be the best of a very mediocre division instead of long-term trying to build the foundation of a good team. Whoever the GM is, that plan is going to be the same in the offseason. Drayton wants the ability to plug a hole with a veteran and announce that he has a team capable of winning a championship.

That's not to say Purpura was perfect. Given the Astros reluctance to offer arbitration in previous years, he probably should have gotten something for Lamb and/or Loretta at the deadline. The PR disaster of not signing this year's draft picks could've been averted by going after college players who were easier to sign.

But by and large, the big ticket items that define his tenure -- Jennings, Ensberg, Biggio, draft -- often involved being either extremely unlucky or greatly involved McLane playing a role that forced his hand. I'm not saying Purpura is innocent. I'm not even saying he did a good job. What I'm saying is that some of the anger that seems to be all directed toward him needs to also go to McLane, Garner and the rest of the organization... with some bad luck thrown in there too.

 

I wish Tal Smith had gotten axed as well. The guy probably has had more influence with Drayton than Purpura. I think not signing those two picks in the draft was the nail in the coffin for Purpura. It really reeked of incompetence. That Wheeler trade was stupid too. Let's trade our mediocre reliever for your mediocre third baseman so we have a warm body at third for a few years, ooookay.

I was a little surprised about Garner though back when we had a good team it seemed we won in spite of his moves a lot of times. I hope Garner gets offered a spot in the organization somewhere at some point. I think he's earned that with what he's done here. Those two second half runs under his tenure were unbelievable.

Judging by the way he talks about the team, I don't think Drayton really knows a lot about baseball or he's a good actor. We need a Hunsicker type back in here to tell Drayton how it is...