I am not as sure as most that Drayton McLane made the right move in firing General Manager Tim Purpura the other day. However, there is no doubt that Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan thinks that McLane screwed the pooch in canning Purpura. In this article ($) entitled “Tim Purpura Gets Screwed,” Sheehan lays into McLane’s management of the Stros:
Firing Purpura, as McLane did yesterday, is an act of incompetence. Not only was it Purpuraís workóhe ran the Astrosí player-development operations for seven years prior to becoming GMóthat built the pennant winner, but with the expensive problems he inherited and the meddling of McLane, it was impossible for him to move the Astros in the direction they needed to go. He was essentially a caretaker, needing to preside over a rebuilding process and never being allowed to do so, and heís now out of a job largely because his employer has returned to being completely irrational about what his team is.
Purpuraís performance as a GM was a mixed bag. He made his share of missteps, such as the [Jason Jennings] trade and the Woody Williams contract. However, he showed a terrific ability for making the smaller moves that add value at very little cost. In three seasons, Purpura made something-for-nothing pickups such as Mike Lamb, Aubrey Huff, and Mark Loretta. The player-development program he built continues to generate contributors such as Luke Scott, Wandy Rodriguez (check out his peripherals this year), Chad Qualls, and Troy Patton. If left to his own devices, I have no doubt that Purpura would have limited the Astrosí rebuilding process to a few short seasons, and come out on the other side with a team prepared for a long run of success.
Instead, heís out of a job. Tim Purpura isnít to blame for the Astrosí disappointing 2007 season, and that heís being fired for it is ridiculous. Drayton McLane set these events in motion by abandoning what had worked for close to a decadeóstaying out of the baseball staffís wayóand instead making his own bad decisions about what the Astros needed. McLane wanted a year-long coronation of Craig Biggio, and he got it. He couldnít have that and a contending baseball team, however, and his refusal to see thatóand his subsequent dismissal of Purpura and Phil Garner as scapegoats for his own mistakesóranks as one of the gameís great embarrassments of 2007.
Tim Purpura was one of the gameís top GM candidates when he landed the Astrosí job, and standing on the unemployment line today, he regains that description. If heís out of work for longer than a couple of days, the industry is making a terrible mistake. Purpura is a better GM than a dozen guys who hold that title at the moment, and I sincerely hope he gets an opportunity to do the job correctly, an opportunity that was denied him in Houston.
You know my feelings on Purpura and Garner, but I would like to address Uncle Drayton.
There have been a lot of things Drayton has done over the years that really angered and frustrated the fanbase. He was cheap before the winter following the 2003 season. He meddles too much in the day-to-day baseball operations. But he has presided over the longest run of success in the Astros’ history. They do have the 4th-best record in the game over the 14 years he has owned the club.
The reason for the success was better upper management. Yes, Purpura was involved in player development, but Hunsicker was the GM. He was making the shrewd moves (Hunsicker aquired the productive Lamb from NY, not Purpura) and moved the players along (like bring Oswalt up from AA in 2001) that made the team a success. Sheehan sort of destroys the whole Purpura-makes-shrewd-moves arguement by giving him credit for Lamb (not his) and for trading for Huff (who hit .250 before leaving for BAL because Purpura decided Ensberg was a better 3B).
I’m not trying to give Drayton a pass, because he was the one pushing “we spend, we have a payroll near or over $100M!”-BS line over the last 2 years. His payroll was at that if you include the salary of someone who had 0 at-bats in 2006 and 2007 (Bagwell). The club spent roughly $85-$90M the last 2 years on actual players.
Ultimately, the club is in trouble because of loyalty. They were probably way too loyal to Biggio and were definitely way too loyal to Lane, Ensberg, Lidge, and Everett. This is because of Drayton. There is plenty of blame to go around. Giving Purpura and Garner a free pass because Drayton meddles is just incorrect. They all have blood on their hands.