Garner and PooPoora are history!

[hembo36]

i would seriously doubt biggio will do it for a few years..he may but he probably wants a little free time first...bagwell i can see..

[lamearmjr]

We dont need Gags or Biggiofer as a manager or Assistant GM. One both will want some time away, two there are better caniadates out there. Girardi has fire which goes against the norm for the Astros. To me Pena or Coop are the obvious choices. I keep on mentioning Jackie Moore as a name for bench coach, remember he has handled alot of these guys while in Round Rock, so he would be a great addition to the big league staff.

[Coach]

Scoreboard to all of those who called out Purpura as nothing but a yes man shortly after he was hired. The worst kind of yes man is the yes man with a boss who doesn't know sh*t.

Garner got handed a big lump of sh*t of a team but it's not a last place team and that's why his ass got sent packing.

If someone can convince Draytie to sell, this team might go places in the future.

[texiban001]

Good luck on that wish coach. Draytie will never sell because it would be tantamount to admitting he doesn't know sh*t about baseball. ;D

[Coach]

If he think our hitting is worse than our pitching, Drayton's clueless. Although comparing the difference between our hitting and pitching is kinda like comparing the stench from a fart and a turd.

[jbarron]

Drayton singled out the hitting as being the biggest problem. The guy is clueless! Any GM who takes this job without having the freedom to do the job without Drayton's meddling is setting himself up to the the fall guy. I always suspected that acquiring Jennings was Drayton's idea and this morning's Chronicle said that Purpura made the deal "at MacLane's urging". Drayton visualized that Jennings would come riding in on his white horse and make letting Pettitte go seem like a good idea. After all, Jennings is from Texas and went to college at Baylor, where Draytie is or was Chairman of the Board of Regents. Drayton thought bringing Jennings in would soften the blow letting Pettitte go. Pettitte and Clemens are both local products and Drayton, being the fool that he is, thought this was a good idea. Now, when the deal doesn't work, he gets rid of Purpura. I agree with Purpura's firing but Drayton proves himself to be gutless by never admitting he's at fault. We will have a tough time winning unless Drayton lets his GM and manager do their jobs without his constant interferring and pinching pennies. It did no good to spend $100 million on Carlos Lee and let the starting pitching suck.

[mikeinsa]

I can not think of any rational excuse for Purpura's performance. If he was dogged by Drayton he should of stood firm and fought back to give in when he knows the owner is wrong only causes the issue to get worse and make him appear to be a major wuss. By standing firm he would of shown resolve and set himself up to be considered for a slot by someone who wants a gm with back bone.

The truth though is that the man never made a trade that we came out obviously ahead on and he made the Jennings deal even if Drayton insisted. He kept guys that sucked around too long and should of non tendered some guys to keep them away from Garner.

Finally look at the farm system. We have gone from one of the best to looking like a laughing stock. Even the players signed this year are bad. Rookie ball winning percentage is as low as I have ever seen a professional team and it is both of them not just one so the talent is evenly distributed-neither team has any.

Garner is just a bad manager that finally got exposed as he ran out of energy.

[texiban001]

Well, what is done is done. I just hope that he doesn't go after another "yes man". However, I really believe that McLane will not hire someone with a back bone because he doesn't like to be contradicted and he will NEVER give the GM, no matter who it is, a free reign to make personnel decisions without his personal input.

Don't be surprised if you see him hire a former Astros player as manager at some point in the future. He will not hire a "outsider" because it will not be a "feel good" hire to dupe the fans with as was Garner!

[jamesa46]

Don't be surprised if you see him hire a former Astros player as manager at some point in the future. He will not hire a "outsider" because it will not be a "feel good" hire to dupe the fans with as was Garner!

You never know....McLane ditched Ashby for two new broadcaster unknowns and that was Drayton's call all the way.

[jbarron]

If Biggio told Drayton he wanted the manager's job, Drayton would stumble all over himself to get the contract ready. He thinks as long as he keeps Biggio and Bagwell visible that he has a cash cow. I guarantee you that if Biggio and/or Bagwell want the job, they'll get it.

[texiban001]

Yeah, Barron, You could be right. It is just the type of thing that Mclane would do to make a buck. I wonder how long he would give them before he wanted a different direction?

[Coach]

Adios Scrapheap, I always admired you as a person.

Winnie the Poohpura, don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.

[hembo36]

I dont know about bags and biggio..the novelty would wear off sooner or later and it could force him into firing the 2 guys who put the astros on the map...plus in a few years, while people will certainly know the names, they will not be as important as what kind of team is fielded...i think dryaton would fear firing one of them...maybe ausmus or someone else he wouldnt have a problem with getting rid of??? who knows

[Ken]

gracie said:

I am glad to see the pasty white hedgehog gone as GM but I am not so sure about the Garner firing. I certainly didn't agree with some of his moves but you can only do so much with talent pool you are given to manage.

Absolutely Gracie...Yes on Poopoo, no on Garner. Lot of folks give Garner heat, but I honestly think the man was severely handcuffed, limiting what he was able to achieve with this team.

Now that I look around, there is hardly anything left to LIKE about the Astros. Biggio will be gone, Garner ( a damn good Houstonian if nothing else) is gone. NEVER cared for the Juice Box ever since they opened the thing, nor the "brick and sand" colors they sold out for in order to sell more merchandising. Not to mention the draft this year, which other than Michael Vick's treatment of dogs, ended up being one of the biggest blunders in sports history. This is no longer the team I grew up loving. I just can't get excited about players like Burke or Bruntlett. And Pence? It's too early to tell. Perhaps he'll become the face of the new Astros, but I've run out of the patience it'll take to see him get there.

[texiban001]

It is a shame how this team has crumbled. I really don't have a problem with the uniforms though. I remember watching this team at the DOME in those horrible uniforms. Even when they lost, you could tell that athey were at least trying. Not this bunch. They lose and what does Berkamn do, make a joke about a 20 game winning streak. Bullsh*t on that!

I want them to get SOMEONE/ANYONE with an attitude that gets PISSED when they lose and isn't afraid to call a non-performer out when it's appropriate. This crap about not calling out a teammate is stupid. If the jackass isn't doing his job, why should he get pissed off when someone tells about it?