Chronicle sportswriter Richard Justice — who still has a difficult time accepting Stros owner Drayton McLane’s decision of over a year ago not to retain former Stros GM Gerry Hunsicker — rarely misses an opportunity to slam McLane and current Stros GM Tim Purpura, even during the Christmas season.
In today’s broadside, Justice castigates McLane and Purpura for everything from raising ticket prices to firing former Stros broadcaster Alan Ashby, and then levels the following criticism about the Stros’ off-season personnel decisions:

If people keep reminding Tim Purpura he has been on the job 14 months without acquiring a player of consequence, he’s going to feel compelled to do something stupid.
Maybe that’s why he offered Nomar Garciaparra $6 million. That’s a lot of money for a player out much of the last two seasons with injuries. Truth is, a left-field platoon of Luke Scott and Chris Burke might be as productive as Garciaparra.
Maybe that’s also why there are reports Purpura would be willing to trade Brad Lidge.
If Purpura had signed Garciaparra, the next move should have been docking him a month’s pay. If he trades Lidge, he should be fired.
Money is too tight to throw at a player with a history of breaking down. And trading Lidge would be so monumentally stupid, it’s almost beyond discussion.

H’mm, a platoon of the 28 year-old Luke Scott and the 26 year-old Chris Burke might be as productive as the 32 year-old Garciaparra? Let’s take a look at their respective career statistics to date:

Scott’s career stat line is -6 RCAA; .270 OBA; .288 SLG; .557 OPS.
Burke’s career stat line is -15 RCAA; .303 OBA; .352 SLG; .655 OPS.
Garciaparra’s career stat line is 247 RCAA; .367 OBA; .544 SLG; .911 OPS, or roughly the same stat line as future Hall-of-Famer Craig Biggio at the same stage of his career.

But Justice never lets knotty little details such as facts get in the way of throwing flames at McLane and Purpura. His criticism about the possible trading of Lidge is equally baseless. The Stros’ strength is pitching and the club’s weakness is hitting. The trade of Lidge that the Stros have supposedly been mulling has been Lidge and SS Adam Everett to the Orioles for all-star SS Miguel Tejada, whose career stat line is 78 RCAA; .338 OBA; .477 SLG; .815 OPS compared to Everett’s -53 RCAA; .305 OBA; .365 SLG; .670 OPS (Everett is a year younger than Tejada). Meanwhile, Lidge was arguably the best reliever in MLB during the 2004 season (26 RSAA), but he tailed off considerably last season (14 RSAA) and has had a history of injuries, which is one of the reasons that Justice thinks that the Stros should not have tried to sign Garciaparra. Maybe trading Lidge from a position of strength in an over-heated market for relievers would turn out to be a mistake — there is that risk in every MLB transaction. But if a Lidge trade provides an upgrade such as Tejada for Everett at SS, then that is a very attractive deal for the Stros and — under any reasonable analysis — certainly not grounds for firing Purpura.
Finally, in closing his column, Justice fires this salvo at current University of Houston basketball coach Tom Penders, who formerly coached at the University of Texas:

Our final question comes from T. Penders, who asks: “How about the way the University of Houston basketball coach is taunting Texas to play him? That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”
Yes, very classy. Tom Penders left Texas almost eight years ago, but the place still seems to be on his mind. He might want to consider cutting the cord in the next year or two.

Justice ought to take his own advice to Coach Penders and apply it to himself with regard to Hunsicker. That relationship appears to be clouding his judgment about the Stros.