Gerry Hunsicker — the most successful general manager in the history of the Houston Astros — resigned Monday after nine years as the club’s general manager.
Hunsicker’s tenure as Stros GM coincided with the most successful decade in Stros’ history. During the past nine years, the Stros won four National League Central titles and finished second three times, including this past season in which the Stros won their first post-season playoff series in club history. Over that span, the Stros had a won/loss record of 701-595 for a sixth-best winning percentage of .541 in Major League Baseball. Only three MLB GMs have served in their current job for more seasons than Hunsicker.
Hunsicker will be replaced by his long-time assistant, Tim Purpura.
The Stros hired Hunsicker as GM in 1995 from the New York Mets organization, where he worked for seven seasons, first as director of minor-league operations and then as assistant GM. Hunsicker and Purpura are credited in baseball circles with revamping the Stros’ farm system over the past decade to produce such star players as Lance Berkman, Richard Hidalgo, Bobby Abreu, Roy Oswalt, Brad Lidge, and Wade Miller. In addition to building the Stros’ farm system, Hunsicker also traded for or signed such talents as Randy Johnson, Jeff Kent, Octavio Dotel, Moises Alou, Carl Everett, Jose Lima, Carlos Beltran and Roger Clemens.
Consequently, by any reasonable measure, Hunsicker’s tenure with the Stros has been a successful one. However, the margin for error is razor thin with a mid-market club such as the Stros, and Hunsicker’s two major failures contributed to the Stros’ inability to break into the elite level of MLB clubs.
Hunsicker’s first mistake was the decision to sign Jeff Bagwell and Hidalgo to high dollar, long-term contracts after the 2000 season. That error in judgment reverberates through the Stros organization to this day. Although those signings were popular from a public relations standpoint, Bagwell had already begun his decline in production and Hidalgo had shown only streaks of high production at the time of those contracts.
Now, almost five years later, the Stros are obligated to pay Bags a total of $39 million over the next three seasons, which is about $25 million greater than his market value. Similarly, the club remains responsible for a multi-million portion of Hidalgo’s contract, all at a time when the Stros are trying to sign free agents Beltran and Clemens, and arbitration eligible stars Berkman and Oswalt. Moreover, because the overpaid Bags remains tethered to first base, the Stros have been unable to move the more productive Berkman to his natural position of first base and open up an outfield spot for MLB-ready Jason Lane. It was Hunsicker’s job to forsee the problems that the Bags and Hidalgo contracts would have on the Stros and point owner Drayton McLane in another direction. He did not and that failure has — and will continue for the next several years — to affect the Stros negatively.
Hunsicker’s other big mistake was in failing to secure a quality catcher for the club. Actually, the Stros had developed a potential star catcher in their minor league system — Mitch Melusky — but a combination of emotional and physical problems undermined his Major League career after only one promising season. When Melusky flamed out, Hunsicker seemed to give up on the position as he overpaid the consistently unproductive Brad Ausmus to an absurdly overmarket contract in 2001 while waiting for the farm system to produce another MLB-quality catcher. Alas, the system did not produce such a player, leaving the Stros with Ausmus and Raul Chavez as their catchers this season. That duo was the weakest catching unit of any team in Major League Baseball this past season.
Despite these failures, Hunsicker has been unquestionably the most successful GM in the 43 year history of the Stros franchise. Which begs the question: Why did he decide to quit?
Based completely on speculation, I think the reason is that McLane is quietly trying to sell the club. As a result, McLane does not want to be forced to eat a large portion of an extended Hunsicker contract if he finds a someone in the next year or two who is willing to buy the club, but who is not interested in retaining Hunsicker as GM. With McLane unwilling to provide him with long term security, Hunsicker elected to take a year off, review his alternatives, and then, on the first day after the remaining year on his Stros contract expires, accept the best GM job available at that time.
One thing is for sure — Hunsicker will not remain unemployed very long after the remaining year on his Stros contract expires. He was a big part of a very good past decade for the Houston Astros, and this talented man will land on his feet in another GM position in Major League Baseball.
Best of luck, Gerry Hunsicker.

In two moves that surprised no one familiar with the Stros, the club announced that it was exercising its option on the contract of outfielder Craig Biggio and declining its option on second basemen Jeff Kent. As a result, the Stros will pay Bidg $3 million next season and will pay Kent $700,000 rather than pick up the option to pay him $9 million for next season.
Bidg enjoyed his second straight solid season after several seasons of decline. After -11 RCAA/.734 OPS in 2002 and 1 RCAA/.763 OPS season in 2003, Biggio hit .469 SLG, .337 OBA, .806 OPS, 8 RCAA in 156 games in 2004 (RCAA, or “runs created against average” is explained here, courtesy of Lee Sinins). He has a .807 career OPS, compared to his league average of .756, and 346 RCAA in 2,409 games. Bidg is the first true Stro Hall of Fame candidate.
Kent is a player in decline, although he is still one of the better hitting second basemen in MLB. After 46 RCAA/.933 OPS and 13 RCAA/.860 OPS seasons, Kent hit .531 SLG, .348 OBA, .880 OPS, 12 RCAA in 145 games. He has a .858 career OPS, compared to his league average of .769, and 237 RCAA in 1,777 games. Kent also has a decent shot at the Hall of Fame.
Both of these moves were the right ones. The Stros are probably overpaying Bidg a bit, but he will likely be at least an average National League hitter next season and he brings valuable leadership to the ballclub. Bidg’s restructuring of his batting swing this season — at the ripe age of 38 — is one of the more remarkable athletic achievements that I have seen this year. That type of dedication and work ethic is worth paying a reasonable premium to retain.
However, Bidg in the outfield is causing some problems. Although he has gamely done whatever the Stros have asked him to do in the outfield, he remains a below average fielder with a far below average arm. Moreover, Bidg’s continued role as a starter is blocking the development of Jason Lane, who is ready for a starting role in the Stros’ outfield. If the Stros are able to retain Beltran‘s services (probably a longshot, but we can dream, can’t we?), then my sense is that the best role for Bidg next season would be as a fourth outfielder/backup second baseman utilityman.
On the other hand, not picking up the option on Kent’s contract was clearly the right move. Kent is simply no longer a $9 million a year player and the Stros can use the money saved on Kent’s contract to go after Beltran. Moreover, the Stros’ best minor league player this season — Chris Burke — is ready to take over at second base next season. Inasmuch as Kent’s lack of range at second may make a shift to third base a smart move in the autumn of his MLB career, the Stros should entertain negotiating a new contract with Kent in the same range as Bidg’s so long as he would agree to such a move. However, the Stros should have no interest in JK if he insists on remaining a second baseman.
Finally, my sense is that the Stros enter this off-season in decent shape. Although Berkman and Oswalt are both arbitration eligible and are due for big contract increases, and signing Beltran and Clemens will command big bucks, the Stros were able to ditch the big Hidalgo and Kent contracts this past season. Thus, the Stros have only the Bagwell contract as the last remnant of the big early decade contracts that are much higher than the existing market prices of player contracts.
Unfortunately, Bags’ contract is really out of whack — $39 million over the next three seasons: $15 million in 2005, $17 million in 2006, and a $7 million buyout of an $18 million 2007 contract. After his fifth straight season of declining offensive numbers, Bags is, at best, a $4-5 million a season player. Consequently, the Stros are overpaying Bags by probably about $25 million (or about $8.3 million per year) over the next three seasons.
So, what to do? Here’s my strategy. Either persuade Bags to restructure his deal to allow the Stros to pay it out over a longer term or trade Bags to an American League team and pay that club up to $20 million to take on Bags’ contract. Increase the team payroll to $100 million (certainly justified by the record attendance and popularity of the club) and dedicate $50 million of that payroll to signing Beltran, Berkman, Oswalt and Clemens. That leaves roughly $50 million for the other 21 roster players, who provide solid alternatives at each position with the exception of catcher.
If the Stros could pull the foregoing off, then my sense is that we could all feel pretty darn comfortable going into the 2005 season. At least so long as the Stros do not re-sign Ausmus as the starting catcher! ;^)

Scott Rolen hit a two out, two run yak in the sixth off of Roger Clemens to break a 2-2 tie and lead the Cardinals to a 5-2 win over the Stros in Game 7 of a thrilling 2004 National League Championship Series on Thursday night in St. Louis. The win propels the Cards into their 15th World Series against the American League Champion, the Boston Red Sox.
The loss was a bitter one for the Stros, who improbably got within 10 outs of the World Series after struggling for much of the season. A late season surge in which they won 36 of their last 46 games allowed the Stros to win the National League Wild Card spot, and then the Stros won their first post-season series over the Braves in the Divisional Series. The Stros accomplished all of this without two of their starting pitchers — Andy Pettitte and Wade Miller — and lost in the seventh game of the NLCS to the club that had the best record in Major League Baseball this season. Those are remarkable accomplishments.
However, the Stros’ bugaboo during their struggles for much of the season has been lack of consistent hitting, and that trait reappeared over the last three games of the NLCS to undermine the Stros’ chances of getting to the World Series. In the final three games of the NLCS, the Stros had only 11 runs and 16 hits, and 11 of those hits were singles. The Stros could only eke out 3 hits in Game 7, including Bidg‘s lead off tater, and none of the Stros’ hitters looked comfortable the entire game. The bottom line is that two of the Cards’ top hitters — Rolen and Pujols — came through in the clutch, and the Stros top hitters — Berkman, Beltran and Bags — were held without a hit in Game 7. The Cards deserved to win the game and the series.
The Rocket was great through five innings, but clearly tired in the sixth when Pujols doubled in the tying run on an inside fast ball that did not have Clemens’ usual bite, and then Rolen cranked a letter high fast ball on the first pitch to put the Cards ahead 4-2. If the Stros’ bats had been clicking, then the Rocket’s performance might have been good enough. Alas, it was not to be.
Oh, but what a ride it’s been. The city of Houston came alive for the past two months as this team jelled and came within a nose of the first World Series for Houston and Texas. The Stros have been one of Major League Baseball’s most successful clubs over the past decade, and now their task is to transition from the Bagwell and Biggio Era to the Berkman and (hopefully) Beltran Era. After the run that this club made at the end of this season and into the playoffs, I’m not betting against the Stros figuring out a way to get this done and remain among the elite clubs in the National League.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that Dan Miceli will not be pitching for the Stros tomorrow.
Miceli served up a walk off gopher ball to Jim Edmonds in the 12th inning as the Cardinals edged the Stros 6-4 in Game 6 on Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis to force a seventh game in this extraordinary 2004 National League Championship Series. Since the advent of the NLCS about 20 years ago, there had never been a walk off dinger in any NLCS game. Now, there has been one in the last two games of this series. Unbelievable.
The Stros were behind for most of this game, as the Cards racked Stros starter Pete Munro for 4 runs and eight hits in 2 1/3rd innings. However, the Stros bullpen was extraordinary, as Harville, Qualls, Weaver, and then Lidge held the Cards at bay for the next nine innings. After Mike Lamb‘s solo yak in the 4th brought the Stros to within 4-3, it was not until Bags‘ clutch base hit with two out in the ninth that the Stros were able to catch the Cards and send the game into extra innings.
Even though Lidge was magnificent in retiring the Cards in order in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh innings, the Stros really lost the game in the ninth. After Bags’ hit and a double steal, the Stros had Beltran on third and Bags on second with two out and Berkman batting. Berkman worked the count to 2-2 against Cards’ closer Isringhausen before striking out on a low inside pitch that would have been ball three if he could have laid off it. The Stros never threatened after that.
So, this series goes to Game 7, and anything less would not do it justice. This incredible series simply deserves a heart-pounding Game 7. As with the final game of the Braves’ series, I feel reasonably good about Game 7 with the Rocket starting on full rest and Roy O also available for relief duty on three days’ rest. Although I’m concerned that Lidge is pitched out after pitching in the past four games, the Cards’ best relievers Isringhausen and Taveras have also been extended.
So, I like the Stros’ chances. But hang on tight because it’s going to be one wild ride!

Please excuse me for having a hard time getting the Stros off of my mind. Amid the incredible performances over the past several days of Beltran, Berkman, Backe and Kent, Baseball Prospectus‘ ($) Joe Sheehan reminds us of the following:

Backe’s tremendous work enabled Phil Garner to skip over the questionable pitchers on his staff and go right to Brad Lidge in the ninth inning. Garner finally used Lidge in a tie game, and was rewarded with an insanely dominant outing. Lidge pitched in all three games in Houston, throwing five innings, allowing one hit and two walks, and striking out nine. He threw 56 strikes in 77 pitches, going after every hitter he faced.
There’s no better pitcher in baseball right now than Brad Lidge, and I say that with apologies to Johan Santana.

Brandon Backe pitched eight innings of one-hit, shutout ball and Jeff Kent hit a three run walkoff yak in the bottom of the ninth as the Stros beat the Cardinals 3-0 on Monday night at a deafening Juice Box to take a 3-2 lead in the National League Championship Series.
Backe was magnificent as he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before giving up a single to Womack. Backe ended up pitching eight innings of one hit, shutout ball, struck out four and walked only two in pitching the game of his life. For the third straight day, Brad Lidge relieved and threw a perfect ninth, including an inning ending strikeout of Pujols that generated a near volcanic eruption from the Juice Box crowd. The Cards’ Woody Williams was equally brilliant as he threw seven innings of one hit, shutout ball as Bags‘ first inning single was the only Stros hit until Beltran led off the ninth with a single.
And oh, what a ninth it was. After Beltran’s single, Bags flew out to deep right center, which brought up Berkman. After Berkman fouled off a couple of pitches, Beltran stole second easily, which left first base open. So, the Cards’ closer Isringhausen promptly walked Berkman to pitch to the righthanded hitting Kent, who promptly cranked the blue darter to deep left field on the first pitch to give the Stros the most significant home run in their 43 year history and the most dramatic since Billy Hatcher‘s improbable game tying home run in Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS. The Juice Box crowd went utterly haywire.
By the way, Beltran continues to display his marvelous talents to the national television audience in this series. As if his hitting was not enough, his diving catch in center to to rob Renteria of an extra base hit in the seventh will make every highlight reel for the rest of the playoffs. It was simply a big-time play by a budding superstar.
I doubt the Stros really need a jet, but they will fly to St. Louis on Tuesday to prepare for Game 6 on Wednesday. Although the Cards have announced that Matt Morris will start that game for the Redbirds, there is still no work on who the Stros will start. My vote is to try to win Game 6 with Munro starting, and then have Clemens on full rest and Roy O on three days rest available for Game 7, if necessary.
By the way, these two games over the past two days have been undoubtedly the most exciting sporting events that I have attended in my 45 or so years of regularly attending such events. Wow, what a weekend of baseball!

Carlos Beltran and Lance Berkman continued their incredible post-season hitting, and Brad Lidge and Dan Weaver provided clutch relief pitching as the Stros came back to edge the Cardinals 6-5 in a heart-pounding National League Championship Series thriller at a raucous Juice Box on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Stros pulled even with the Cards in the NLCS with each team having won two games. Game 5 is tomorrow evening at the Juice Box and Game 6 is Wednesday in St. Louis. Game 7, if necessary will be Thursday evening in St. Louis.
This was one of the most thrilling games in Stros’ history, right up there with Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS against the Mets and the Game 5 of the NLCS against the Phillies in 1980. However, unlike those two games, the Stros won this nailbiter, which may just vault it to the top of Stros’ memorable games.
The game started badly for the Stros, as Roy O was not sharp and had trouble spotting his fastball all game. Pujols, who — like Beltran and Berkman — is having a tremendous NLCS, popped a two run Crawford Box tater in the first, which was quickly followed by another run to put the Stros in a 3-0 hole before they had even batted.
Bags got one back in the bottom of the first by knocking in Beltran with a double, but the Cards extended the lead to 4-1 in the third. Then, in the bottom of the third, Berkman nailed a double to the base of the wall in deep right center to drive in Beltran and Bags to close to within 4-3. However, the Cards added another run in the fourth off of Oswalt to increase the lead to 5-3. Could the Stros ever catch them in this one?
The answer was a resounding yes. In the sixth, after Bidg was called out to end the fifth on a questionable call at second on a steal, Berkman led off by hammering a massive yak to left to cut the lead to 5-4. Then, with two outs, Viz nailed an opposite field double down the line, and the unlikely Raul Chavez blooped a single over second base to drive in Viz and tie the game at 5. The Juice Box crowd — which was deafening the entire game — exploded.
Weaver took over in the seventh for Oswalt, who battled like the gamer he is through six innings without his best stuff. After giving up the customary hit to Pujols to lead off the inning, Weaver mowed down Rolen, Edmonds and Rentaria in succession to the roaring approval of the Juice Box crowd.
Then Beltran went to work. With one out, Beltran literally golfed a two strike pitch into the Stros’ bullpen to send the Juice Box into utter hysteria. The Stros now led for the first time in the game, 6-5.
There was going to be no Game 2 managerial mistakes in this one as Garner went to Lidge in the eighth. The Stros’ stopper used just six pitches to retire the bottom of the Cards order in that inning.
However, the ninth inning was wild. Womack led off by hitting a screaming liner to Bags’ right, and he made a nifty grab just off the infield dirt for the first out. After Walker walked on four pitches, Lidge worked the count to two strikes on Pujols, who then half-swinged one of Lidge’s nasty sliders and hit a high drive to left that looked like it might be the two run yak that would give the Cards the lead. However, Lane caught the ball on the warning track against the Crawford Box left field wall for the second out as the Juice Box crowd heaved a collective sigh of relief in unison. That’s all Lidge needed as he proceeded to whiff Rolen for the third out and the save. The Juice Box crowd almost blew the roof off the stadium.
Brandon Backe goes for the Stros in Game 5 against the Cards’ Woody Williams. It’s the best two out of three now, folks. We got us a series!

JK, Carlos Beltran, and Lance Berkman cranked key yaks and Roger Clemens pitched seven strong innings to hand the ball to closer Brad Lidge as the Stros beat the Cardinals 5-2 in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at a rockin’ Juice Box on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Stros closed to within a game of tying the series, which the Cards lead two games to one.
After Larry Walker‘s solo yak in the first staked the Cards to a 1-0 lead, JK’s two out, two run bomb in the bottom of the first keyed a three run rally that put the Stros in front to stay. After Edmonds whacked a solo tater in the second, the score remained 3-2 until the eighth, when Beltran and Berkman’s massive solo cranks gave the Stros a three run cushion going into the ninth.
Meanwhile, the Rocket was magnificent and seemed to grow stronger as the game wore on. In his seven innings, he gave up just two runs on four hits, two walks, and fanned seven. He threw 116 pitches in a remarkable performance for any pitcher, much less one that is 42 years old. Lidge was equally effective in relief, giving up a single, a walk, and a hit batter in two innings while getting five of his six outs on strike outs.
A fully rested Roy O goes for the series tie in Sunday’s game against the Cards’ Jason Marquis. Inasmuch as Lidge threw 41 pitches today, the Stros need Oswalt to pitch deep into this one. The best approach would be to score some runs early and allow Oswalt to pitch with a lead, which he does well. Hold on tight for this ride because the Juice Box will be rockin’ again tomorrow.

The Stros’ bullpen could not hold a lead again as the Cards’ scored two runs in the eighth to break a tie and beat the Stros 6-4 and take a 2-0 lead in the NLCS on a cold, rainy night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Thursday night.
The Stros took a 3-0 lead in this one on solo yaks by Beltran and Ensberg, and Berkman‘s run scoring single. Pete Munro pitched brilliantly for 4 2/3 innings and actually had the third out in the fourth, but the ailing JK (bruised knee and calf) could not get to the bag in time to turn a sure fire double play ball to end the inning.
After that, Munro gave up a walk, a two run tater to Larry Walker and a base hit to Pujols to cut the lead to 3-2, and then Harville served up his second big hit in two nights as Rolen took him out of the yard. Presto, the Cards led 4-3. The Stros came back to tie it in the seventh on Berkman’s double and Ensberg’s single, but then Miceli served up a back-to-back gopher balls to Pujols and Rolen in the eighth to allow the Redbirds to head to Houston with a 2-0 series lead. Game, set, match.
I was talking to a friend earlier today in which I proposed that the Stros simply walk Pujols and Edmonds (and maybe Walker, too) when anybody other than The Rocket, Roy O or Lidge is pitching and see what happens. Frankly, my sense is that the Stros could not do much worse than they did in past two games pitching to these guys.
Clemens and Oswalt are ready to go next for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Sunday at the Juice Box in Houston. This is a plucky Stros’ team, so I am not ready to count them out, yet. But Clemens and Oswalt really need to pitch long into each of these games so that they had the ball directly to Lidge. We’ll worry about who pitches after Backe in Game 5 later.

The Chronicle’s Richard Justice is blogging the Stros-Cards National League Championship Series.