WHAT WE'RE HEARING That GMs Tim Purpura and Wayne Krivsky may be in trouble in Houston and Cincinnati, respectively. Word is, the Astros are looking to make former Tigers and Padres GM Randy Smith their next GM, and that Walt Jocketty has his eye on the Reds job if he decides to leave St. Louis after this season. Jocketty is said to be upset about the increased power of a VP named Jeff Luhnow in the Cardinals' organization, and there's a chance both he and manager Tony La Russa leave at the end of the year. http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/gr...lumns-0/118386959094430.xml&coll=1&thispage=7
Randy Smith (baseball) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Randy Smith (born June 15, 1963) is an American former executive in Major League Baseball. He served as general manager of the San Diego Padres (1993-95) and Detroit Tigers (1996-2002). The son of baseball executive Tal Smith, Randy Smith became the GM of the Padres midseason in 1993 at age 29. After six years as Tigers GM, in which the team never posted a winning season, he was fired along with manager Phil Garner six games into the 2002 season. Criticism The collapse of the Detroit Tigers in the late 90's is often blamed on Randy Smith. Under Smith, the Tigers squandered numerous high draft picks in trades for players who did not fulfill their potential, and the high draft picks that the team made resulted in no noteworthy players. As a consequence, the franchise's minor-league system struggled, providing little help to the major-league club. In addition, Smith traded away numerous quality players, such as Luis Gonzalez and Phil Nevin, without receiving comparable talent in return. Smith's most controversial move as GM backfired heavily; in an effort to acquire a star player that would draw fans to new Comerica Park in 2000, he sent six players—including Frank Catalanotto, Justin Thompson, Gabe Kapler and Francisco Cordero—to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Juan Gonzalez, plus two unheralded players. Gonzalez played only 115 games in a Tigers uniform before suffering a season-ending injury, and he left the team as a free agent in the offseason. Furthermore, Smith hamstrung the franchise by signing a number of players to lucrative long-term contracts, forcing the team to devote a significant portion of its payroll to players who had long outlived their usefulness. Examples of such long-term signings include Dean Palmer, Damion Easley, and Bobby Higginson. In July 2005, ESPN.com listed Randy Smith as "the most hated man" among Tigers fans.
Smith's best season was 2000 when the Tigers went 79-83 and finished 16 games out of first. Never had a winning season and never finished higher than 3rd in the division. No thanks! I hope Tal isn't exercising any pull.
Yes remember those horrible trades when Detroit and Houston just recycled pseudo-stars, names really, between the two teams when the respective city realized the players sucked? BRING BACK THE HUN!!!
You mean those horrible trades between Detroit and Houston, orchestrated by Hunsicker? Irony is so ironic.
Berkeman, Ensberg, Everett, Scott and Burke would automatically raise their BAs by 50 points if Hunsicker returns. And our bullpen would stop sucking. And all of the future allstars in Round Rock would be brought up.
Yep, Zobrist is busy hitting .257 for Tampa Bay's AAA team. He also has committed 11 errors in only 47 games. Mitch Talbot, the other player involved in the trade, is 6-7 in 18 starts with an era of 5.21 and a whip of 1.47.
If this happens, I'm getting a bucket of Church's and large side of mashed potatoes and gravy to drown my face in.
I hate Tal Smith. Gee what animal does he resemble?? His Phil Spector hair, his stupid hill in the middle of center field, his annoying Detroit/Houston trades that led to nothing..... Not to mention the fact that I hear he is a total prick. His son is worse than Purpura. Bring back Hunsicker.
