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Houston Astros
Scouting Report
By the Numbers | Players To Watch | Projected Roster
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With the loss of their
ace, Kile, the Astros will go as far as offensive stars
like Biggio can carry
them.
(John Iacono)
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There's a lot
of good talking going on in Houston these days. The owner
of the Astros, Drayton McLane, knows how to talk to the
county pols, and now taxpayers are building his club a new
downtown ballpark. The general manager, Gerry Hunsicker,
knows how to talk to
the owner, and the payroll has jumped from $33 million last
year to
$39 million. The manager, Larry Dierker, knows how to talk to
the G.M., the owner, the
players,
everybody, and he has them all loose and happy and playing
Dierkball.
What you have in Houston is the near-perfect execution of
your basic one-big-happy-family concept, and it seems to be
working pretty darn well. Last year Houston won the
National League Central before losing three straight to the
Braves in the Division
Series. This year the Astros are aiming even higher, looking
to win their division, and more. They'd love to face the
Braves again (though perhaps not until the League
Championship Series), maybe win a game or two this time
before settling in for the
winter. Maybe even win more than
that.
Of course, even in the happiest of families, not everybody
feels chipper all the time. Jeff Bagwell—the All-Star
first baseman who hit .286 with 43 home runs and 135 RBIs
last year as the only pure power hitter in the lineup—was
kind of grumpy in the
off-season. The story is that he got upset at McLane and
Hunsicker for not
re-signing his bud, righthander Darryl Kile, Houston's ace
last year. Bagwell claims Hunsicker didn't make the
pitcher feel wanted enough, first by offering
$4 million less than the Rockies (who signed Kile to a
three-year,
$24 million contract) and then by lying about how much he had
offered. The Astros deny
this.
As for Dierker, his response to the Kile situation is
revealing as to the depth of his
mellowness.
SI: Were you mad at your bosses for not re-signing
Kile?
Dierker:
No.
SI: How
come?
Dierker (drawling) : 'Cause I look at it as an either-or.
Either we're going to sign Kile, or we're going to get some
players to replace him. We didn't sign him, but we got
Moises Alou, Dave Clark, Jack Howell and Carl Everett
instead. I don't trust
pitchers to stay the same anyhow. Position players, yes.
Pitchers,
no.
A note on the drawl: Dierker, who grew up in Los Angeles,
has lived in Houston for 34 years, and his voice reflects a
blend of the two cultures. He sounds unworried, laconic,
content—and he is. What's the worst thing that's going to
happen? His club is
going to lose a game? He's going to lose his job? No big
whoop. He can always go back to the broadcast booth, where
he spent 18 years calling Astros games before being asked
to manage the team in October 1996. Dierker is the opposite
of his best
all-around player, second baseman Craig Biggio, who is intense,
always studying, always planning. The two get along
famously.
Back to Kile. Houston will miss him. Not just because he
went 19-7, with a 2.57 ERA, but also because he pitched
255 2/3 innings. That's a whole lot of frames to replace, and the
Astros don't have the arms to do it. Their rotation is a
mess. It's Shane Reynolds, a control pitcher coming back
from knee surgery, followed by Mike Hampton, a 25-year-old
southpaw, followed by
... as they say, lots of question marks. The Astrodome is a
hurler's haven, and when the Astros have won, they've won
with pitching. If they win this year, it will be with their
bats: Biggio, Bagwell, Derek Bell, along with
Alou.
This year we'll find out if the manager can get his team to
play Dierkball full time. Last year we got a glimpse.
Here's his spiel on how the game is
played.
First rule: There are no rules. Anybody who wants to try to
steal a base, go ahead, knock yourself out. Any pitcher who
wants to bat for himself and stay in the game, grab
yourself a piece of wood and show us what all you can do.
I'd love to get another inning out of you. You know what
you guys consider a big lead? Take two more giant steps.
That is a lead. Now, son, why would you want to bunt the runner
over when you could swing away, maybe hit yourself one of
those doubles you hit so often in
Double A, and then we'd have second and third, no outs? Remember,
fellas, we're playing a game here.
Dierkball. It could catch
on.
—by Mark Bechtel
Scouting Report | By the Numbers | Players To Watch | Projected Roster
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