[610am] Hunsicker stepping down, Purpura to be new GM

All our best wishes Gerry!

 

I don't always agree with Richard Justice, but I agree with this.

Score this an error on ownership


He gave the Astros credibility. He gave them a conscience. He contributed more to their success than any of us may ever really know.

He didn't cry Monday when he announced his resignation, but he came close a couple of times.

If you love the Astros, you're the one who should be crying. Your favorite baseball team is far worse off than it was before Gerry Hunsicker stepped to a microphone on Monday morning at Minute Maid Park.

But don't cry for Hunsicker.

He won't be out of work long. This was a resignation, not a retirement.

I thought it was odd that Drayton McLane didn't seem the least bit worried or embarrassed. He should have been both.


Relationship had eroded
Hunsicker is no longer general manager of the Astros because he had finally had enough of McLane.

He resigned because their relationship had run its course and because he was worn down by the constant budget battles and by dealing with an owner who wanted a hand in virtually every decision.

Yes, they disagreed over McLane's decision to bring back Craig Biggio for 2005. That wasn't the reason he quit.

It wasn't even about McLane's latest slashing of the player-development budget. McLane has asked his baseball people to do more and more with less and less for so long that cutting the budget became the norm.

It was all those things and more. It was a desire for more freedom, to maybe answer to someone who trusted him a bit more and who understood that building a team is more art than science.

This is no knock on his replacement, either.

Tim Purpura is competent, personable and more than deserving. He has waited patiently while other franchises have hired less-qualified men.

In evaluating players and executing acquisitions, he may be every bit as good as Gerry Hunsicker.

He'll also be so excited to have the job that he may be able to overlook some of the things that gnawed at Hunsicker.

And yet ...


The ripple effect
Hunsicker's departure leaves an unimaginably large hole in an organization that had been one of baseball's most successful since he arrived in late 1995. He drafted wisely, made shrewd trades and was one of the game's best talent evaluators.

He was also much more than that, and the Astros may not understand the magnitude of his departure for weeks, maybe months. Sports franchises change slowly, almost imperceptibly even in the best of times.

The Astros will understand, though, when there's no one to push McLane in the right direction, when there's no one to go to bat for the lower-paid employees, when there's no way to tell his overbearing bean counters to take a hike.

He convinced McLane to start a 401K retirement plan. He pleaded with McLane to close the team's offices between Christmas and New Year's Day as a way to give employees who routinely work 70-hour weeks a break.

At Union Station, most employees understood that if they had a problem, Hunsicker was the one person would really listen.

This morning, those people are just beginning to realize what they lost. Now when they've got a problem they can look for one of the managers who consider sarcasm a motivational tool.

In sports, we tend to measure everything by the numbers. We'll remember Hunsicker as the guy who constructed five playoff teams in nine years and who built one of the best and most efficient baseball operations on earth.

He never got the Astros into a World Series, but he got them close.

He was the guy who ordered Brad Lidge to emphasize his slider, the pitch that may now be the best in the game.

He was the guy who saw potential in Brandon Backe when the Devil Rays didn't.

He was the guy who understood that things had to fit and that while a Lance Berkman had value, so did a Jose Vizcaino.

He's as competitive and as tightly wrapped as any man I've known. He's also a man of uncommon decency, a man who always tries to do the right thing.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, he was talking excitedly about the 2005 Astros. He knew that every move would have to be cleared by McLane, and sometime last week, he tired of the fight.


Health became an issue
At midseason when the Astros appeared to be going nowhere, Hunsicker began having heart palpitations.

At times, his heart beat so quickly that he thought he might be dying. If you ever saw him after some of those ugly losses, you'd understand better than any doctor what he was going through.

He took every defeat personally. They gnawed at him and angered him and brought him down. Unlike McLane, he didn't hide what he was feeling. There were times when he spoke too frankly.

McLane resented his GM's frankness. He resented how much credit Hunsicker got.

Hunsicker believes he was almost fired after last season. They decided to give it one more try and then re-evaluate.

Last Thursday, Hunsicker told McLane he'd had enough. McLane apparently didn't attempt to talk him out of it.

Had he tried, I'm guessing he could have.

Another owner might have realized what he was about to lose and tried to change. He'd have promised to turn baseball decisions over to him or to allow him to mold the roster any way he saw fit.

McLane wouldn't do that because he believes organizations are more important than any single person. He may find out there are people so valuable they're worth bending for.


Kind words all around
At Monday's news conference, they all played nice. Hunsicker said all the right things about taking a break, and McLane couldn't have been more gracious.

But don't believe all that half-baked stuff about Hunsicker serving as a consultant and holding Purpura's hand through his first months on the job.

Hunsicker will clean out his desk and have the place in his rearview mirror by the
end of the week. He said something about taking his wife, Irene, fishing and maybe doing some chores around the house.

Uh, right. He's 54, not 84. I'm guessing he'll be running another team by Christmas.

Whether it's the Texas Rangers or Philadelphia Phillies or some other club, he's going to be the best present some owner could ever give himself.

What an awful day for the Astros.

 

Leave it up to Richie Justice to stir things up... east-coast style.

Just remember this next year when he's also proclaiming the "genius" of Tim Pupurra, and how the Astros made the "right" move in forcing Gerry out...

Also, his bickering over McLane is hippocritical at best... especially when he lauded him for going out personally to woo Clemens and Pettite with that charm of his.

So what is it... should the owner not meddle at all (like he just chastized him for in the article), or should the owner be involved when it means luring future HOF pitchers.

For what its worth, I do sympathize with Gerry in that he was restricted by McLane's budget... but at the same time, I'd fear that had this team tried to simply sign big name FA's, they wouldn't have made some of the moves that have led to some of the stud players they have now.

 

Teams are better off when owners stay out of the business. Hire good people and let them do their job.

 

I'm not sure this has to do with drayton restricting Gerry's budget at all. I think it could actually have to do with gerry's general philosophy to not sign really large long term contracts plus the situation with his wife.

Personally, I think that drayton plans to make a bagwell type offer to beltran(heard 15 mil range from sources) and gerry probably thought that money might be best allocated in multiple players.

Consider the difference in Purpura's statements today about Beltran to the way Hunsicker approached it all year. It is like night and day.

 

Que? What exactly did Purpura have to say about the Beltran deal? I haven't read a paper or been able to listen to 610 today, so I'm out of the loop...

 

Gerry Hunsicker, who resigned as GM on Monday, already contacted Beltran's agent, Scott Boras. Purpura and McLane say they're open to visiting Beltran and his wife, Jessica, at their Puerto Rico home.

"But certainly there has to be someone on the other side who wants you to come," Purpura said. "I think Carlos does."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2879388

I mean at least the guy is acting like we have a chance at Carlos. Gerry all year refused to acknowledge the Astros had a chance at Beltran. All year he was probably the most pessimistic person in the organization with regards to the Astros's chances at keeping Carlos. I realize he probably didn't want to get fans hopes up and say something he might regret, but it is worth noting, regardless.

 

Pupura talked about actually going down to Puerto Rico to see Carlos and his wife... and he sounded optimistic that Carlos really wants this to work out in Houston.

I think Gerry just couldn't stand having to "answer" to Drayton anymore. Most GM's are free to do whatever they want, provided that they remain within a budget (and a lot of times, they can get the owner to raise the budget). With Drayton, he's been involved in every single decision the Astros have made... whether it be draft, bringing up players from the minors, player's roles on the team, etc.

Nobody knows the name of the Cardinals owner (Bill Dewitt), but they all know Walt Jocketty. Likewise, teams like the Cubs and Braves, who are owned by corporations, really only have the GM as the direct link to the club.

McLane is probably the most visible baseball owner west of George Steinbrenner.

 

This from Purpura's news conference really seems to illustrate how Hunsicker will leave the Astros in his rear view mirror "by the end of the week"

 

I read it differently. I read it that JH understan ds the state of the team, the owner, and all. He decided he needed out, and will take a bit of time as a free agent GM. I didn't feel the east coast hate, but what do I know?

 

definitely a sad day in the astros organization....but i dont think this was unexpected.......gonna be a fun offseason........

 

Well actually, Justice is spot-on here. My friend attended the Breeder's Cup this past weekend in Dallas and was in the same box as Hunsicker. Hunsicker apparently was bashing McLane all weekend when asked about Astros issues and was saying that he was sick and tired of him. My friend thought that it was odd that Hunsicker would spill all of this stuff given that it could easily get to the press . . . but then the resignation happened the next day and it all made sense. So obviously, this decision had been made during the previous week and Justice is right in saying that it was due to McLane.