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Sunday, January 25, 1998
Astros GM spends off-season navigating mine
fields
By MICHAEL A. LUTZ / AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker
has spent the off-season building a baseball team on a budget
and extinguishing public relations brush fires.
He made positive moves by obtaining outfielder Moises Alou
from the world champion Florida Marlins. He added power with third
baseman Jack Howell and later re-signed third baseman Sean Berry
and pitcher Mike Hampton.
But he also has had to weave his way through mine fields, trying
to do what he thinks best for the team then explaining several
controversial decisions.
First he decided not to bring back outfielder Luis Gonzalez,
popular among both his teammates and fans. Then, in a strange
twist, the Astros lost the battle to Colorado for No. 1 pitcher
Darryl Kile in last-minute negotiating confusion.
That brought a public outburst from first baseman Jeff Bagwell,
who wondered how the Astros could allow their star pitcher to
escape when he appeared ready to remain in Houston.
"Since the day after Jeff's comments, I'm confident it's
behind us," Hunsicker said. "It was an emotional comment
made involving a close friend. Everyone was frustrated, including
myself, because we weren't able to keep Darryl."
Hunsicker also traded reliever John Hudek to the New York Mets
for troubled outfielder Carl Everett, whose children were placed
in foster care Aug. 7 after a Shea Stadium child-care worker noticed
bruises on them.
A family court judge later dropped child abuse charges against
the outfielder and his wife, but ruled that Linda Everett inflicted
"excessive corporal punishment" on the children and
her husband did little to stop her. Since then, the Everetts have
been allowed supervised visits with the children.
Hunsicker has steadily slugged his way through each potentially
volatile situation. He believes time will prove his decisions
worthwhile, while also meeting image-conscious owner Drayton McLane's
demands for a clean-cut team.
Last season, Hunsicker had fans questioning his sanity when
he brought in Chuckie Carr. The outfielder had left Milwaukee
under a cloud; Hunsicker himself had feuded with Carr when both
were with the New York Mets.
Hunsicker sat down and cleared the air with Carr, who became
an asset in the Astros' drive to the NL Central Division title.
He expects a similar result with Everett, despite the different
circumstances.
"I think some people have a very wrong perception of Carl
Everett," Hunsicker said. "He's a good person, talented,
a good teammate and he hasn't been a problem child on the baseball
field like Chuckie Carr had been. He's (Everett) very competitive
and emotional and sometimes he lets emotion get in the way."
The winter has been rough on Hunsicker from the start, beginning
with right fielder Derek Bell saying he might not return after
he was booed in the final playoff game against the Atlanta Braves.
Hunsicker anticipates a happy ending to that dilemma as well.
"Derek is a very sensitive person and, at the end, we
were all emotional and frustrated from losing three straight to
Atlanta," Hunsicker said. "Derek said some things out
of frustration. I'm confident when spring training roles around
Derek will be there."
Although the Astros lost Kile, Hunsicker believes the public
will appreciate McLane's modest loosening of the purse strings
to bolster the team's depth and offense.
And, with a new stadium on track for the year 2000, Hunsicker
sees a rosy future.
"I think people understand that we have budgetary limits
and respect that," Hunsicker said. "At the start of
last year with the appointment of Larry Dierker as manager, I
said I believed we were embarking on the most exciting era in
the baseball history for this city.
"I still believe that."
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