Cecil Cooper really have a chance in Houston.

[hauser42]

Was thinking about this the other day. Finally Cecil Cooper is getting a chance to manage a big league team after putting in a lot time in the front office and minor leagues since he retired.

Stros added Matuis at 2B and Bourn in CF but they are still hurting for pitching. They need a closer and really have a lot of questions when it comes to SP.

They do have some good prospects coming up but I wonder if Coop is a stop gap for a bigger name next year.

[Thurston Fluff]

The Astros don't really have a history of hiring big names. Garner was a two time loser who took over for a guy who came out of the announcer's booth to manage. He'll be given a chance to show what he can do. I think they are in for a couple year's of rebuilding before they get back to competetive baseball so I don't think it would make sense to hire someone else for a couple years regardless of who might be out there. Why pay top dollar for a guy to manage a team that, at it's best, would be .500?

[RobertR]

Unless Cooper has a magic touch with pitchers, I'd say he's in for a short tenure. After Oswalt the starting rotation is questionable and the offense isn't balanced at all. They have Berkman, Lee, and Pence and then plenty of question marks/black holes. It hurts them that they have no players that are good offensively and defensively, except maybe Pence, although you could probably argue that the Brewers are really only 1 up on them, depending on what you think of Hardy and Hart.

 

Robert

[endaround]

Houston has been unbalanced for a long time. Even when they went to the World Series it was basically due to six players (Oswalt, Clemens, Pettite, Berkman, Biggio and Lidge)

[JohnBriggs12]

It's the NL Central so anybody has a chance. Their core isn't bad: Lee, Berkman, Pence. Berkman is coming off a bad year (for him). They also figure to have good defensive infield with the return of Everett and the addition of Matsui. Wiggenton is a Brewer killer at third too. Plus they have plenty of speed to cause guys like Kendall fits.

 

They are counting on a comeback year from Brandon Backe who when healthy is pretty good and further development of Wandy Rodriguez who can be tough as well. I think they'll add another starter from somewhere.

[dadofandrew]

Whenever they talk a lot about speed at the top of the lineup and being aggressive, it's pretty easy to shake your head and wonder.

 

They paid Matsui $16M and will bring a better player in Loretta off the bench, because he does not run as fast. It reminds me of the '02 Brewers.

[fallingleaves]

I don't think Cecil will last long either, the Astros are disjointed mess, and have become poorly managed.

[crewcrazy]

If Phil Garner got fired in a short tenure that included the franchise's first trip to the World Series, I can't see Coop lasting very long, either. Their owner is just about as bad as the Steinbrenners when it comes to a lack of patience.