For Astros' Owner Drayton McLane, Throwing Out Cooper Is a Start

After two years of underachievement and frustration, Houston Astros boss Drayton McLane did something he should have done long ago.

This was coming, but if it's not the precursor to spectacular change, it won't mean much. With just 13 games remaining in the regular season, McClane canned overmatched skipper Cecil Cooper.

Cooper seems like a swell guy with a titanic heart for baseball. His players rarely questioned his manners or his faith in God—just his lackluster managerial skills. The former first baseman accepted a gig he should have known was rotten from the start.

Finally, on the evening after the Astros were officially eliminated from playoff contention, McLane pulled the plug on the cacophony.

Monday afternoon became a coop for "Coop." He became the convenient fall guy for a disastrous organization up to its elbows in payroll without the playoff-ready roster to match.

McClane needed to oust Cooper, and that reality should not be lost here. No great manager would leave 38-year-old Mike Hampton in a game against the Washington Nationals that quickly amounted to batting practice for one of baseball's worst franchises.

Not many clubs could misspell the name of the team on a marquee player's jersey and an ex-president on a bobblehead in the same season. For the Natinals, incompetence is normalcy.

That shouldn't ring true with the Astros. It will be the case, though, until McLane accepts that his product stinks and the fans are sick of smelling it.

No one with an ounce of sanity can look at this flawed, patchwork roster and see it winning a World Series. Not now. Not next year.

Herein lies the concern with some of McLane's comments at Monday's press conference. Maybe he thinks Cooper was the only problem.

Maybe he thinks he can snatch up a few more cheap veterans and recapture the magical runs of 2004 and 2005. Even when he tells reporters, "everyone will be evaluated," it's hard to take him seriously.

The timing of the announcement was suspect, too. It was almost as if he waited until the Astros had been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention so gullible fans could believe another manager would have taken the club farther.

He fired a manager often chided for his poor oratory skills and his lukewarm leadership. Now, McLane must begin the several-year process of fixing his $108 million mess.

He could start with a poignant question to himself: "Do I want to pay close to $108 million for a team with one of the worst pitching staffs in the majors that's 10 games under .500?"

Cooper is merely one of far too many headaches in need of a cure. The Astros' newest ace, Wandy Rodriguez, threw garbage pitches, not strikes, in an embarrassing 7-3 loss just after the managerial change.

The should-be ace, Roy Oswalt, was throwing sliders and changeups with all the self-esteem of a depressed mental patient.

His record hovering around .500 for most of the season, and his ERA ranking as the worst in his career, it was clear the end would not be pretty for a team whose other starting pitching options are...a still growing youngster in Bud Norris, wrong stuff geezer Mike Hampton, Chris Sampson, and others.

Reliable closers LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde both hit the injured list, and the non-competitive nature of so many contests made them mostly expendable when they could play.

Before McLane counts on either high-dollar reliever to save more games, consider this a plea for the owner to save his colossal failure of a franchise.

Injuries derailed franchise stars Oswalt and Lance Berkman. Kaz Matzui re-acquainted himself with the DL, too.

I believed as so many fans likely did, that an offense featuring Matzui, Berkman, Carlos Lee, Miguel Tejada, and Hunter Pence would smack the ball out of the park at will.

How could Matzui, coming off a World Series appearance with the Colorado Rockies in which he was an important piece, not help a Houston team that had just barely missed the playoffs?

If McLane still buys that nonsense, perhaps these statistics will set him straight.

The Astros have one of the least productive offenses in any division. How does bottom five sound, Drayton?

Few teams are better at stranding runners on base than this squad. The owner must realize when he sees Michael Bourne reach first and steal second that his teammates won't bring him home when it counts.

His spending has come at the expense of draftee signings and player development. All of the Astros minor league affiliates are in last place.

The next step for McLane is giving GM Ed Wade proper time to carry out his plan to build up the farm system.

Wade tried filling holes with big-name players, and it didn't work. McLane better start practicing what he's preached for several months.

Pence remain a marvelous find, and Norris, Tommy Manzella, and Jason Castro are intriguing prospects. That is not enough.

Great sports owners do more than spend money. They allocate payroll wisely, and don't spend more dough than the roster is worth.

Astros fans are not satisfied that McLane doles out a lot of money. They care how he spends it.

Any look at recent title winners reveals that even those with high payrolls still invest in the minors. The Boston Red Sox? Do J.D. Drew, Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis sound familiar?

They may spend a lot on David Ortiz and pitchers, but the importance of player development is not lost in Beantown. Youkilis was named the Red Sox' Minor League Player of the Year in 2001.

The Tampa Bay Rays reached the championship round with one of the lowest payrolls in the majors. The team's best slugger, Evan Longoria, was still playing on a rookie deal.

Those quick to say McLane should fire Wade, too, should remember last year's Philadelphia Phillies. Many of the key players on that team were Wade's finds, not Ruben Amaro Jr.

Sure, he fired Terry Francona and failed to assemble a playoff-capable roster while he was on the job. Those things can be overlooked.

Wade's far from perfect, but he doesn't come across as a bozo.

The baseball stadium was once named after an energy juggernaut. It would appear the title of the documentary about that company's chilling collapse, "The Smartest Guys in the Room," is not an accurate description of McLane's ownership.

Wade called Dave Clark, the third base coach selected to replace Cooper in the interim, a "stand-up guy." McLane and Wade predicted he would command the players' respect.

The Astros want to win out, even if the playoffs are no longer a possibility, the owner said.

Fans should want their teams to compete, even if pride is the only thing at stake. Except now.

If McLane doesn't begin an overhaul this summer, Clark will meet the same fate Cooper did.

Didn't Cooper get the same welcome two years ago?

The descriptions also match. Nice guys with major managerial aspirations, admirable baseball careers, respectable values...

Should I stop now, Drayton?

He said Monday what he's said about every manager he's hired. That effusive praise will soon turn to scorn. The fans will want Clark gone more than they did Phil Garner, Tim Purpura, or Cooper.

McLane needs to face the mutinous music. Francona, Tony La Russa, and Joe Torre could not have won with this muddled roster. He cannot expect Clark to do it, either.

Cooper needed to go. However, firing the scapegoat is a first step, not the panacea for a loser.

Will the man too prone to quick fixes finally admit that the dream of 2005 has bled to death?

Your move, Drayton. If you indeed run your own job, your move too, Ed.