Drayton on Fox26 right now (nm)

[Navin R Johnson]

nm

[Navin R Johnson]

Drayton

Tim P, last two years haven't been up to what I think they should be.   We have great fans, wouldnt trade them for any others.

Met with Tim yesterday let him know we were replacing him.

Said we needed new direction.

Tal Smith taking over for now.

[Navin R Johnson]

Tal and Drayton will start tomorrow for a replacement for Tim.

Hopes to have one by the end of the season.

[Navin R Johnson]

Cecil taking over for Phil till the end of the season.

[ybbodeus]

Better sell the team, Drayton; they'll be booing you next! 

[pravata]

Better sell the team, Drayton; they'll be booing you next! 

He's a liar.  And I don't want to hear that that's how business is done.  He makes a big deal of hiring the "right" people.  He is not up to that standard.

[Navin R Johnson]

Drayton just said... HITTING is the NUMBER ONE ISSUE with the Astros.

[Astroholic]

Drayton just said... HITTING is the NUMBER ONE ISSUE with the Astros.

That quote right there is why Drayton should let the baseball people do the hiring and firing.

[Navin R Johnson]

To Cecil's credit he listed the astros problems are in order... Pitching, defense, and then approach at the plate.

[Limey]

Drayton just said... HITTING is the NUMBER ONE ISSUE with the Astros.

I think Sean Berry just soiled his underpants.

[Astroholic]

To Cecil's credit he listed the astros problems are in order... Pitching, defense, and then approach at the plate.

Bing fucking O

[MRaup]

To Cecil's credit he listed the astros problems are in order... Pitching, defense, and then approach at the plate.

He actually said "approach at the plate"?

[ybbodeus]

Hope to GOD we keep him versus go the Baker route.

[JimR]

He actually said "approach at the plate"?

omg--"approach?"

fire him immediately

[Navin R Johnson]

omg--"approach?"

fire him immediately

I guess I am unaware of some inside joke, but yes that is what he said.

[CrawfordBoxes]

Hope to GOD we keep him versus go the Baker route.

Anyone but Dustbag.

[Duke]

I guess I am unaware of some inside joke, but yes that is what he said.

See the Lee the hitter thread.

[Noe]

I guess I am unaware of some inside joke, but yes that is what he said.

He's right too.  The Pence at bat is a micro view of the larger lack of approach at the plate for this team.  To think that the Pittsburg Pirates have beaten this particular team by 1 or 2 runs the majority of the time this year tells you that just a little different approach than grip it and rip it in key situations and the outcomes of many of those games is very different.

But I'm glad Coop said pitching and defense first.  It is entirely what is lacking on this team.  To give credit to the young Pyroots, they do those two things well against the Astros.  Then again, the Astros hitters willing allow them to pitch well with their overly aggressive approach to hitting.

[Noe]

Drayton just said... HITTING is the NUMBER ONE ISSUE with the Astros.

*sigh*

[MikeyBoy]

Drayton just said... HITTING is the NUMBER ONE ISSUE with the Astros.

Sweet 8 lb. 6 oz. baby Jesus...I can't believe he actually fucking said this. Good bye, Adam Everett.

[Reuben]

Sweet 8 lb. 6 oz. baby Jesus...I can't believe he actually fucking said this. Good bye, Adam Everett.

On one hand, I'd say there's no way in hell Tim Purpura was the only guy standing in the way of AE getting replaced...then again, if the new org. philosophy is to let the fans and sportscasters determine who's employed/called up/starting for the team, then yeah, bye-bye Adam. I hope not.

On a tangentally-related note, I sat down the 3B line at an Orioles game two weeks ago. Tejada's SS defense is absolutely brutal. Forget "step-and-a-dive;" he doesn't even want to dive it seems. Let's hope they do not revisit that trade.

[Jacksonian]

Sweet 8 lb. 6 oz. baby Jesus...I can't believe he actually fucking said this. Good bye, Adam Everett.

Relatedly, if that's true, the SS of the future is no longer in the org.

Damn, back to square one learning the drafting and developmental philosophy.

[MusicMan]

Damn, back to square one learning the drafting and developmental philosophy.

Get ready for five years of square one.

Honestly - I get that managers and GMs are hired to be fired.

But Drayton McLane's comments, and approach to these firings, make this the darkest day for this organization in recent memory.

[Navin R Johnson]

Get ready for five years of square one.

Honestly - I get that managers and GMs are hired to be fired.

But Drayton McLane's comments, and approach to these firings, make this the darkest day for this organization in recent memory.

Really?   I agree the firing timing was low rent, but this team is in last place in the NL Central, cant get to much lower than that.

I liked Phil and generally liked Purpura, but I am looking forward to seeing who takes over and what direction they take the team.

The Astros already have 3 of the best 6 players in the division.  They are in a division that you only have to play ~.500 ball to make the playoffs.  With some luck and good signings in the off season, no reason they cant compete for the NL Central next summer.

[MusicMan]

I liked Phil and generally liked Purpura, but I am looking forward to seeing who takes over and what direction they take the team.

Drayton McLane, Pam Gardner, and Tal Smith are calling the shots.

The only word I have for "who takes over and what direction they take the team" is DREAD.

[Noe]

Really?   I agree the firing timing was low rent, but this team is in last place in the NL Central, cant get to much lower than that.

I liked Phil and generally liked Purpura, but I am looking forward to seeing who takes over and what direction they take the team.

The Astros already have 3 of the best 6 players in the division.  They are in a division that you only have to play ~.500 ball to make the playoffs.  With some luck and good signings in the off season, no reason they cant compete for the NL Central next summer.

If I felt better that this was about baseball and nothing else, I'd be right there with you Navin.  I can't shake that this is about the fans who write nasty e-mails and letters to The Colonel and make her go running to the Grocer with fear and trembling that they're going to take a huge hit at the gate if something is not done.

Same with media reports that hit from the other side.

Ironically, Jeff Bagwell said that this town had grown up as a baseball town and he was speaking to the very people who were booing the GM and helped usher him out.  Irony is so ironic.

[Navin R Johnson]

Drayton said/referenced (either during the press conference or on Charlie P's show) companies changing CEO's and the positive impact that can have.   Paraphrasing here, he talked about how when you have the same group of people  making decisions for an extended period of time, sometimes things get stagnant.    Sometimes change for changes sake is needed.

I really got the feeling, from listening to him speak today, that this is where he was coming from.   

It is about back to back years of shitty baseball, much more so than the booing simpletons or the entire village of idiots that inhabit the Chron Blogs.

[MusicMan]

Change for change's sake just hurts you, if you're not careful about what you change to.

[pravata]

Drayton said/referenced (either during the press conference or on Charlie P's show) companies changing CEO's and the positive impact that can have.   Paraphrasing here, he talked about how when you have the same group of people  making decisions for an extended period of time, sometimes things get stagnant.    Sometimes change for changes sake is needed.

I really got the feeling, from listening to him speak today, that this is where he was coming from.   

It is about back to back years of shitty baseball, much more so than the booing simpletons or the entire village of idiots that inhabit the Chron Blogs.

Change for change sake is ADD.

[cougar]

Drayton just said... HITTING is the NUMBER ONE ISSUE with the Astros.

I'm not exactly sure what this is supposed to mean, other than Sean Berry and AE better start updating the resumes.  Does Uncle Drayton plan on fielding a Strat-O-Matic team that commits 4 errors a game and loses 12-10?  I can't think of too many pitchers that would like that situation.

And how does Drayton plan on fixing the situation?  Is he going to throw money at the problem and pray something works?  Not only will that bloat his payroll well past fiscal responsibility (a phrase I pray most of the radio morons in this town learn and apply) but he's going to lose the draft choices that he needs to refill the minor league system with quality prospects.  I've seen how this turns out.  It's called the Baltimore Orioles.

[juliogotay]

Change for change sake is ADD.

If you have quality people in the right positions, and you have confidence in their abilities, you give them the opportunity to right the ship. All of this B.S. about stagant and a fresh start is crap. IMO no one was in a better place to know what needs to be done to get better than the two guys leaving. Back to square one.

[Noe]

Drayton said/referenced (either during the press conference or on Charlie P's show) companies changing CEO's and the positive impact that can have.   Paraphrasing here, he talked about how when you have the same group of people  making decisions for an extended period of time, sometimes things get stagnant.    Sometimes change for changes sake is needed.

I really got the feeling, from listening to him speak today, that this is where he was coming from.   

It is about back to back years of shitty baseball, much more so than the booing simpletons or the entire village of idiots that inhabit the Chron Blogs.

It sounds business-like in the approach to change.  Again, I have no problem with his desire to change regardless, it's his ballclub and he can do anything he wants with it.  Including threaten to move them to Virginny if I don't vote to give him a new ballpark.  But any way, he made the decision and that's all good and well.

I just have this gnawing feeling that it's not really baseball related as much as business related.  Fans do more than just boo at the ballpark, they write e-mails and letters to Pam Gardner and to Drayton himself.  One time, a fan complained that he had travels from south Texas to see the Astros play and that day Larry Dierker gave Bagwell and Biggio the day off.  From that fan complaint came a mandate from McLane that Dierker was to play Bagwell and Biggio as much as humanly possible at home for the fans sake.

It is an example of a business decision driving a baseball decision and not the reverse.  Any way, what is going to happen next is anyone's guess I suppose and I hope for the best because this is my favorite team regardless.  McLane's tenure at owner doing this sort of stuff can't ruin that any more than John J. McMullen did when he was the boss and blew up the 80's team into a AAA squad to save money.

BTW - change for change sake is an interesting ideal for McLane to cite as a viable baseball reason.  He has often said he admired the Atlanta Braves organization and wanted his organization to do things in a similar fashion.  You know... like keep the same damn manager for over a decade and stuff.

[Reuben]

You know... like keep the same damn manager for over a decade and stuff.

My view isn't so great from over here on the East Coast, but it seemed like Phil fit pretty well with this team.