:toast: Aug. 28, 2007, 1:20AM
Props due McLane for shaking it up
By RICHARD JUSTICE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle :toast:
If Drayton McLane is looking for good cheap advice, he has come to the right place.
He should hire Dan Evans to be his new general manager and remove the "interim" tag from Cecil Cooper's title. Pretty simple, huh? More on that later.
Monday was nothing more than a step in the right direction toward making the Astros respectable again. It was a huge step but just a step nevertheless.
Such days can bring out an array of emotions, but instead of sadness or anger, there seemed to be a sense of relief at Minute Maid Park as McLane announced the firings of Tim Purpura and Phil Garner.
No more daily speculating about who might or might not walk the plank for this sorry season; the deed is now done. Now the rebuilding can begin.
McLane seemed rejuvenated to be moving forward again. He spoke excitedly of watching Cooper manage these final 31 games and said he wanted a new general manager in place by the end of the season.
Those of you who doubted McLane had the guts to show both Purpura and Garner the door badly misread him. He has built one of the most successful franchises in baseball, and the last thing he wants his legacy to be is that he allowed the operation to fall apart.
"I want change," he said. "I've watched great organizations (decline). Who remembers Montgomery Ward? That was the No. 1 retailer in America when I was young. Who remembers Gulf Oil? I can name corporation after corporation that had immense success, but they just froze and kept making the same mistakes over and over.
"A change in leadership can make a huge difference. I'm looking for new, fresh ideas from scouting and player development to the major league team."
Garner was the perfect choice to replace Jimy Williams three years ago and expertly guided the Astros to their two greatest seasons ever. He didn't distinguish himself the last two years with moves that became more and more bizarre, but firing him alone would have done nothing except make many fans happy
Purpura more at fault
The Astros need real change. In the end, Garner's not the biggest reason they are 58-73. That blame rests with Purpura, both in the decline of the minor league system and mistakes at the big league level.
Purpura's legacy will be the disastrous Jason Jennings trade. McLane and his new interim general manager, Tal Smith, signed off on it, but it was Purpura's baby from start to finish.
He departs as the only general manager to ever lead the Astros to the World Series, but when the players began to get older, he was unable to keep the club competitive. I've often wondered how much autonomy he really had, but McLane and Smith said Monday that Purpura had as much independence as any other general manager.
McLane's really important decision is still ahead of him. Cooper, a man of dignity and intelligence, is eminently qualified to manage, but the bigger challenge awaits the new general manager.
The Astros are among the National League's worst teams in hitting, pitching and defense, and the upper level of the minor league system has few first-rate prospects. The new general manager will be asked to build a competitive roster at the big-league level while restoring the player development system.
McLane will have a long list of qualified candidates to choose from. With enough revenue to support a $90 million payroll and a history of winning, the Astros provide one of the majors' plum jobs.
He can go for a numbers guy like David Forst of the A's or Paul DePodesta, formerly of the Dodgers. He can hire an old-school baseball guy like Kevin Towers of the Padres. Phillies scouting guru Mike Arbuckle is another possibility.
Before you even ask, McLane shot down the idea of Gerry Hunsicker's return almost before hearing the question.
"No," is how he put it.
I'd hire Evans. He has spent three decades in the game, working his way up from office assistant with the Chicago White Sox to become general manager of the Dodgers.
This guy's a winner
Evans knows personnel, and more importantly, he has been around winning organizations. He knows how to construct one. He knows how to put a productive minor league system together.
He was dismissed after two years in Los Angeles when ownership asked him to make Draconian cuts in their player development system. In those two years, he brought in some of the best scouting and de-
velopment people in the game.
The franchise's overall talent level increased from 28th to first in that time. The core of young talent the Dodgers are running out there today is a tribute to the work done by Evans. And he did something else in his short time on the job. He surrounded himself with around a dozen former managers and general managers.
Purpura's biggest mistake was hiring people like himself whose strengths were more in minor league organization than player evaluation.
Evans, now a lead scout for the Seattle Mariners, isn't the only competent man likely to apply for the job.
McLane will have other good choices. He needs a general manager with vision and smarts. In discussing the day's news with members of the baseball staff, I found widespread support for Smith as the man to lead the organization in the short-term and the right guy to help McLane hire a new GM.
These people see the Astros at a grassroots level. They saw the decay and had absolutely no confidence in Purpura or the people around him. They believe Smith will do the right thing for the Astros. Smith should begin by asking the Mariners for permission to interview Evans. He'd be a good place to start and perhaps a good place to finish as the Astros begin a new era.
Listen to Richard Justice weekdays from 10 a.m.-noon on 1560 AM. richard.justice@chron.com
