Despite the fact that Craig Biggio (-9 RCAA/.271 OBA/.382 SLG/.653 OPS) has been one of the least productive hitters (-28 RCAA) among regular National League players over the past season and a half, I at least understand the Stros’ decision in continuing to play him regularly as he plods toward his landmark 3,000th hit.
But what’s the Stros’ excuse for continuing to trot Woody Williams (-18 RSAA/5.75/17 HR’s in 92.1 innings) out to the mound every fifth game?
For the season, Williams is now the third least productive starter of the 90 or so regular starters in the entire National League. Unlike Biggio, he is not a franchise icon. Rather, Williams is a 40 year-old speculative off-season pickup who has not worked out. There is simply no reasonable explanation for not giving some of the Stros minor league talent a shot while having Williams play out his string in a less damaging role, probably as a long reliever.
By the way, after ridiculing the Rockets’ Les Alexander’s quite reasonable decision to change management, the Chronicle’s Richard Justice now thinks maybe Stros’ owner Drayton McLane should fire Stros General Manager Tim Purpura, despite the fact that Purpura has been an integral part of the Stros management team that has overseen the most successful decade in the club’s history.
As noted in the earlier post, I don’t understand why Chronicle management thinks Justice has any business analyzing sports. However, at least he is doing that rather than making management decisions for any of the local sports teams.