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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Houston Chronicle: Justice: Hunsicker’s touch needed in dark times

They feel bad, and they’ve felt worse
Touch me, I’m Hunsicker

With the Astros in free fall, it’s time for a fresh perspective. General manager Tim Purpura and his staff can keep their offices and titles, but Drayton McLane needs an outsider to offer a blunt assessment of what has gone wrong.

Trust me when I tell you no one does blunt assessments better than Hunsicker. Over the years, no one was spared, not even a certain bright, enterprising and well-meaning sportswriter.

Sure, there was an ugly divorce between McLane and Hunsicker, but that was almost three years ago. Who stays mad that long?

I’ll bet he and McLane can’t even remember what led to their split. It might have had something to do with McLane’s believing Hunsicker got too much credit for the successes and not enough blame for the failures, but you didn’t get that from me.

Repoz Posted: May 31, 2007 at 10:46 AM | 2 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Mike Emeigh

Posted: May 31, 2007 at 12:29 PM (#2385871)

The Astros lost their 10th straight game Wednesday night, a 4-3 loss to the Reds, and could tie a 12-year-old club record tonight. They're near the bottom of the National League in hitting and pitching. Their minor league system is in sad shape.

The problems in the Astros' farm system started on Hunsicker's watch, although Purpura's two drafts have not worked out very well at all, yet. Part of the problem is that Hunsicker didn't have a first-rounder in either 2003 or 2004. So far, the Astros have gotten nothing from their 2002 draft, only Burke and Matt Albers from the 2001 draft, only Jason Jennings (via Jason Hirsh) from the 2003 draft, and only Pence from 2004, plus half a season of Aubrey Huff (traded for 2002 pick Mitch Talbot and '04 selection Ben Zobrist). Now granted, the jury's still out on a couple of those drafts - Troy Patton could be moving up soon, for one - but that's not a great record.

-- MWE

2. kthejoker Posted: May 31, 2007 at 02:53 PM (#2386109)

Flipside of trading: we traded Jeriome Robertson for Luke Scott, a 2001 draftee. But your point stands.

Ultimately the problem is they are a fairly old team, and signing 31 year old fat sluggers to 6 year contracts isn't helping. It's unfortunate they couldn't get some good prospects for Lane, Lidge (or Taveras, in hindsight).

But in 08 the lineup will be essentially the same, with a new catcher (Michael Barrett? Towles?), and Burke and Pence playing full time (I doubt Loretta will stick around on a bench for another year.) Between Sampson, Patton, and Albers, we should have a 5th starter to complement Oswalt/Jennings/Williams/Backe. Bullpen's just kind of meh, maybe Biggio's money can help with that (or dump Lidge and get another legit 2/3 starter.)

I'm not as worried about them in 08 as I am in 2010.

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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Houston Chronicle: Justice: Hunsicker’s touch needed in dark times

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