Gerry Hunsicker has suddenly resigned as Astros GM. He will be kept on staff as a “special advisor.” Tim Purpura, asst GM in charge of player development has been named as new GM.
Gerry has done an excellent job over the past 9 years, and I am absolutely stunned that he is leaving. This was, to put it mildly, sudden and unexpected. I am very worried about what this means with respect to signing Carlos. I am worried that this means that we won’t sign our core young players to good deals. I am worried that this means that Gerry and Drayton had a strong falling out and the “special advisor” thing is hush money.
So I have decided that it is wiser to not hope for the best next year and get used to the idea that we will have to re-build without Carlos. (I just hope we don’t resign Kent so we will at least have some of our own players to cheer for.) The local media aren’t gonna say anything except the party line, so we’ll have to guess what went down by seeing who Purpura does or does not sign.
As a side note, I will say that both Gerry and Purpura are well thought of by the stat community.
UPDATE 11/2 – I was wrong about the local columnists toeing the party line. Richard Justice doesn’t bother to hide his disgust, says letting Hunsicker go is Bad News.
Been thinking this over. I think this has to do with the question of re-signing Carlos. It was a SERIOUS public relations disaster when the last owner let Nolan Ryan, Local Hero, go because he was “too old.” It will be an even MORE serious disaster if the fans think that we are not making every effort to get Carlos. I’m suspicious that Hunsicker didn’t want to go along with the pretending and just decided **** this. Keeping Biggio and Kent is just plain silly, but I guess it will cost less than Carlos. In the short term. Don’t buy now, pay later.
Tags: Houston Astros, MLB
My understanding is that he resigned because his wife is sick. Tim Purpura is a quality guy who did a great job building up young pitching (Roy,Wade,Brad,Carlos etc.) in the farm system. That’s what’s going to make the Astros good and not whether Drayton will break the bank to get Beltran (though it certainly wouldn’t hurt!).
kevin,
i had not heard that his wife is sick. not in the local papers, not in the local news, not on sports talk radio. he did not say this in his resignation speech, and that would have been a very smart thing to say if it was actually true. so unless she sez so to some reporter, i disbelieve it.
lisa
Tim Purpura is an outstanding choice for Houston’s GM! I’ve worked with him in the past and he’s a great guy that will do alot for the organization. Get ready for the Series trophy!!
hi alisa!
this is like 6 months later. like HOW is he outstanding? i would LOVE to see SOME way that you think he is gonna get us the players for the WS. because i wasn’t real too impressed with the way he handled the beltran stuff, or who he picked up off the scrap heap for the bullpen, or the way he didn’t find us an OF, etc…
lisa