Now What? Wait Till Next Year?

Don't look behind you, the axe may fall. It fell on the General Manager and Manager of the Houston Astros yesterday. I had a feeling that Phil Garner would not be back next year. A lot of people were not happy with the way Tim Purpura handled getting players. Dumping these two now is a little bit of a surprise. Is is likely that this change will turn the team around and get more wins? No. Craig Biggio takes the blame on himself and his teammates, telling reporters that the team did not do their jobs.

Tim Purpura, as GM, was supposed to find the players to bring up from the minors or get the best players in trades. He did not get this done. Carlos Lee was a good $100 million deal. Bringing up Hunter Pence was good. Losing Clemens and Petitte was not. Trading for Jennings and Williams was not. He did release Morgan Ensberg who was was underachieving this year. He did not get the draft choices signed. Now What? What can we do to get top players and restock the minors?

Phil Garner was well liked by the players and the fans. He helped lead the team to the World Series two years ago. What did he do wrong? Was he not agressive enough? We all know that many times too many men were left on base. How many times did we have bases loaded with no outs and could not get a single run across? Biggio as the lead off hitter, almost always got on base. Berkman and Lee should have been able to get the runs. At one point Biggio, Pence, Berkman and Lee would have been tough to get out. Now what? Next year Biggio will be gone. Pitching has been suspect all year. Did Garner leave starters in too long. Why was the bullpen so bad?

All things considered I guess we will just have to wait till next year. Will players be traded in the off-season? Will any player be safe? What do the fans think? Drayton McClain said he spent a lot of time this season talking to fans in the stands during games. He said he listened to their complaints, questions and suggestions. Now what?