Why Pupura? What has he done since he's been GM? Nothing! It all started with him being punked my Scott Boris and Carlos Beltran and hasn't improved since. He's adding NOTHING to this team. The World Series appearance is all attributed to Hunsicker's team. Clemens WANTED to come to Houston...I could have been GM and gotten that deal done. Besides, that was an Uncle Drayton deal to begin with. Either this is all Drayton's fault, in which Tim is nothing more than a puppet (a good reason Hunsicker left), or Tim's baseball knowledge is plain and simple zero. Why Garner? He's too damn loyal to his players. Why the hell is Ensberg still in there? Because he was on the World Series team! Why the hell is Biggio getting soooo many starts?? Because he's Biggio and Biggio is bigger than the Astros winning (Garner can change that). The Manager still makes out the lineup card. Why did he continue to give the ball to Lidge, when everyone can see Lidge lost all confidence as a closer (including Lidge). I think Garner is either blind, confused or another Drayton Puppet!! Play the players that give the team the best chance to win....It's that simple!!! The bigger question may be Drayton. It's hard to argue he's the total reason behind all of this when the Astros are one of the winnigest teams in the last decade. BUT...will they ever be more of a playoff team that can't win the big one (aka the Braves)??? Time will tell!!! I know one thing is for sure. The Astros will never win the World Series with Garner and Pupura!!! An ignorant GM and blind Manager!!!
A lot of your points just don't make much sense, so I'll not address them, but I'm not sure you've noticed any of these things: Stros offense is much improved in May, averaging over 4.5 R/G. It should get even better with Lamb/Loretta poised to get a lot more PT at 3rd. Stros rotation leads MLB in quality starts. This is with their #2 starter spending much time on the DL. He should be back soon. Stros bullpen is 10th in ERA, trending upwards. White's back, Miller & Lidge are pitching much, much better now than earlier in the season. So stop flapping your ass & enjoy the games. And tell your mom "Happy Mother's Day!"
I have to give Purpura credit for finding Rick White this off-season. I still didn't like the Jennings trade because he will be a free agent and you gave up Hirsh who you would have controlled at a reasonable salary for 5 more years. I really don't like Garner. I don't like the fact that he bats Biggio leadoff and the fact that he rarely pinch hits for Ausmus and Everett in the later innings. Also he needs to give Biggio it lot more days off, especially on the road, because Biggio will wear down.
And if you think the Astros didn't have a similar offer for Clemens, or wouldn't have matched the Yankees given the chance, you're an idiot. You're always going to lose in a bidding war to the Yankees, but if Roger demanded 'x' salary, we would have paid it. In other words: If he really wanted to be here, he'd be here. You can't blame Pupura because Roger's heart was someplace else. I'm not a Pupura fan, but your arguements suck.
This issue has been debated so many times before you'd think it'd be dead... First, the whole city was fooled by Boras and Beltran...and as I recall he opted to stick with the young guys that season (instead of making some desperation and overpay for a subpar FA) and they went to the WS. Hunsicker may have put the team together that went to the big show, but Purp had a big hand in developing those players and bringing them up to the big league team. A lot of people seem to overlook that. Purp has made a number of decent signings...some may have not worked out int he long run (Huff and Wilson) but that is more attributed to player underperforming. Others have definitely proved their worth (Springer, White, Miller last year). Biggio is playing because he's still showing he deserves a starting spot (though maybe not for the entire year). His quest for 3,000 and the decision to keep him in the lineup goes far beyond Garner's head I'd imagine. He is stubborn at times, but that is paying off right now in regards to Lidge, he's starting to turn it around. Pretty much everybody, myself included, had written him off after the first week...but he's definitely showing signs of life. I dunno why you're complaining though, the team is starting to put up runs and starting to win...enjoy it!
Braves haven't won the big one? 1995 buddy. Lidge lost his confidence? He's 1-0 in May with a 1.08 ERA. For the season he's 2-0 with a 3.57 ERA. Another Drayton puppet? Who was the first manager puppet under Uncle Drayton?
We need to get rid of JVG, Carrol Dawson, David Carr, Rafer Alston, Phil Gardner, Tim Purpura, Daryl Morey and Bob McNair.
Braves have ONE championship in HOW MANY tries?? Lidge lost his confidence LAST SEASON and Garner kept giving him the ball. The OTHER Drayton puppet is Pupura! Jeez man....can you read between the lines?
Think of all the other general managers who have done less with a baseball team. We've had a pretty good run. When was the last time we were outright awful? I can't remember either. Unless it's all just a matter of spending power but then I'd even hesitate to blame Drayton. There's just too much evidence that he isn't a cheap owner. Our knowledge only comes from retrospect so it's hard to positively state what we know is better for the team in the future with any degree of authority. I'm glad we got to see Pence this early, though. That's been fun even through the losses. It's been a slow 1/7 of a season. Garner seems like a late season manager, so why change when we can assume the best is ahead? It'd be par for course. There's such a fine line between rewarding players for past successes and going in a new direction. Which is better at which time? Do we really know how players will perform? I don't. It seems like there's a lot of guess work for any team. But even with more time to consider, it's only retrospect. At best we can only suggest what management should have done. Calling for changes based on the shortcomings to this point seems like jumping the gun. We just need a good winning streak. I'm not worried, although I definitely don't think this team is a world series team, and maybe even a playoff one. It's just too early.
The Astros are a team where all big moves have to be approved by the owner. Most teams are like this. Few teams give the GM autonomy to do whatever he pleases. Would you rather Drayton but heads with the GM? Like he did with Hunsicker? Hell, Tim may get fed-up of this in 2 years, just like Hunsicker did.
And the Yankees last championship was seven years ago; and they're a team that EXPECTS to win the championship every year. It just speaks to how hard it is to win in this league. Yeah Garner kept giving him the ball and still does and look how Lidge has been improving. Lidge was his own worst enemy last year, taking too much advice and trying to do too much to fix it; when he realized this year he needs to just get back to basics, he started improving. Garner's only mistake was probably keeping him in the closer's role for so long last year. But make no mistake, this team is better when they have a productive Lidge. The only way for him to turn the corner was to pitch. How exactly is he a puppet? What has he done to prove this? I'll agree that Mclane does want a 'yes' man and someone that's on the same page as him...and Hun clashed with him on a number of things. But keep in mind, if Hun had his way Pettite and Clemens may have never come here and Biggio would be collecting his 3,000 somewhere else.
