Time for Purpura to act

[redsrbetter]

CHICAGO — The Astros are a broken team. Let's begin with that fundamental word. Team. Baseball is a game of numbers. They're used to evaluate players and analyze seasons. They're at the core of every decision. Numbers, numbers, numbers. var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1); document.write('');
Something intangible lies beyond the numbers, something harder to quantify. It's this something that separates good teams from bad teams. It's this something the Astros don't have.
It's the ability to function as a team, to have a whole that's greater than the sum of the individual parts. Darrell Royal called it "playing with one heartbeat."
The Astros have had this intangible the last two summers. They were nothing special at the beginning of both seasons but eventually became more than they should have been.
When they needed to win
3-2, they won 3-2. When they needed to win 9-8, they did that, too.
These things don't happen by accident. They happen because teams have the right mix of players, the right chemistry and environment.
Baseball's best general managers understand roster building is more an art than a science. They want players who put winning first. They want players who love the game.
The Astros have lost their magic. Maybe they'll find it next week or next month. Maybe they won't ever find it with this group of players.
Another big lead vanished Sunday night. Another fluke? Or another reminder that the 2005 National League champions aren't even going to be contenders in 2006?
Go ahead and vent about Brad Lidge and Russ Springer. Both of them were terrible Sunday night. Chad Qualls had been the guy on Saturday. Vent about him, too.
It's not just them. It's Andy Pettitte. It's Jason Lane and Morgan Ensberg. It's pitching and hitting and everything.
They can't all be released. They can't all be sent to the minors. Yet it would be a huge mistake for general manager Tim Purpura to look at the current club and say: "No problem."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...e/4001503.html

Man what a mess this team has become. What is going on with these guys. They were so good the last few years with the World Series appearance. The guys who were a huge part of that birth have sunk. Purpura needs to do something with this team to have them become born again. Time to start over?

[redsrbetter]

I have been hearing that Tavares may be on the block. Has anyone heard anything like this? He could bring in something nice I would think because of his speed and defensive range. Anyone know more about this?

[redsrbetter]

Let's make a deal
That pitching is going to be wasted if Purpura doesn't add a hitter. His problem will be finding a trading partner.

Twelve of the National League's 16 teams are still in contention. In the American League, nine of 14 teams are close enough to dream.

So the list of available players will be short. Miguel Tejada, Andruw Jones, Carl Crawford, Alfonso Soriano and Bobby Abreu could be available by the July 31 trading deadline.

Purpura has done almost everything right until now. He was right not to sign a veteran outfielder after Carlos Beltran departed. He was right to stick with the young players last summer.

It's easy to underestimate doing nothing. He had veteran options, but he believed in his own kids.

A friend challenged me the other day about the lack of moves last winter.

"You've got to keep getting better," he said. "They didn't."

Actually, they did. First of all, they had virtually no payroll flexibility. Second, they didn't know what they had.

Purpura would have been silly to pull the plug on Lane, Willy Taveras or Chad Qualls. All three seemed to be getting better, not worse.

Purpura believed in them. He knew they all wouldn't make it, but he saw them do extraordinary things in 2005.

Purpura's strength is his experience in player development. His job as farm director required a relentless optimism to see every 18-year-old kid as the next Roger Clemens or Lance Berkman.

Years after a man named Sandy Johnson signed a skinny little kid named Sammy Sosa, I asked if he had a hunch great things were ahead.

"I sure did," he said, "but I signed dozens that year. I had a hunch about all of them."

That attitude is perfect for a building team. It can be a killer for a general manager with a team that should be changed.

McLane shouldn't let an opportunity pass. He shouldn't use a $104.5-millon payroll as an excuse. There's relief next winter thanks to the uncertain status of Jeff Bagwell, Clemens and Pettitte.

In another era, a team with a 41-42 record wouldn't have playoff dreams. This is a different era.

There's more parity and fewer dominant teams. This is an opportunity for a team like the Astros. They shouldn't let it pass.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...e/4022654.html

If they add a bat, I would fear that they would make the playoffs. Especially a bat that is as big as the ones that come with the names mentioned in the article. Any one of those guys could help this team climb to a contention status without a doubt.

[redsrbetter]

So has anyone heard any rumors at all as to what he will be going after specifically? Yeah, we know he wants a bat, but whom is he in interest of?