What to do?

And yes, I’m very glad it’s an off day. I hate to sound so fair-weather, but having been in attendance at the worst home shut-out since the Nixon administration (per Zachary Levine), I definitely need a break from the Astros. I was discussing our upcoming schedule with one of the docs I work with today. He is a huge Red Sox fan, so he is very sympathetic with our plight of doing interleague with the AL East. Anyway, basically looking at the schedule, I calculated that if the rest of our interleague matchups go as well as this latter one, we could be sitting at 16 games below .500 before the end of June. I really think McLane’s desire to have the Yankees and Red Sox come to town may backfire on him—if we continue to get our asses handed to us, 43,166 people in the park ain’t gonna happen very often anymore this year. Sure, he made boatloads of cash this weekend, but will it even out over a losing season?

As far as Coop, I’m conflicted. I like the guy and wanted him to succeed, but there are recurring, nagging signals that he has lost or is losing the clubhouse, or at least doesn’t have the full support of the rotation. Maybe he said something after that 15 – 6 loss to the Phillies that lost trust or something. Our skid certainly started after that. And a lot of his moves don’t make sense, even to a non-sabermetrician like myself. I keep thinking, well, Towles was on a short leash, and Bourn somewhat too. What kind of leash do you give a manager, especially since, as you stated, it’s difficult to assess or quantify his true impact over a season?

but we’re not in 5th place, and just 1/2 a game out of last place.

My manager at my place of business is from New York. Accent and everything. Big Yankees fan. The punk even traveled to Houston for the Friday night game and was leaning on the Astros dugout in full Yankees gear.

I will never hear the end of it from him. Unless we somehow turn this sinking ship around and re-meet the Yankees in October, I will be in the doghouse for years as a result of this weekend’s pathetic showing.

so I don’t think it is feasible to think about replacing him as manager yet. Common decency probably requires the Astros to give him at least a full season to show what he can do. Having said that, I have serious concerns about Cooper’s decisions and approach as manager. Cooper has an “old school” mindset, which makes me worry that he will try to play baseball like it is 1975. His seeming emotional ups and downs may not be the best thing for a manager. Perhaps he should think back to how Phil Garner handled the roller coaster aspects of a season. The most critical question is the level of respect and leadership he has in the clubhouse; I’m not there so I can’t know for sure how he stands. But some of the comments from players, and his comments about his players, make me wonder if he has a good relationship in the clubhouse.

I find myself frequently diagreeing with Coop’s decisions. What was that game a few weeks ago when he didn’t pinch hit for Os in the 7th with 2 outs and men on in a game where we were down by a run or two? But, I also don’t think Coop has anything to do with the pitching staff giving up a league high in HRs. Changing him won’t improve the quality of this staff or the OBP of the top of the order. I am inclined to let him finish out the season, and focus on shoring up our more glaring weaknesses.