Cooper Takes Over for Astros; What Changes are Expected?

October 18, 2007 @ 06:18:40

By Aaron Adams
Edited by Ryan Dodson

On Sept. 29 the Houston Astros announced that interim manager Cecil Cooper was being signed to lead the team through 2009 with a club option for 2010. Cooper was interim manager for a mere 28 games, notching a 13-15 record, but the front office felt that he was the man to lead them to the promised land as he put a spark into the team during his short tenure.

Cecil Cooper - the player and coach 

It remains to be seen if Cooper can be a successful big league manager, but his impressive resume is inspiring. As a player Cooper ended his 17 year career with a .298 batting average, 241 homers and 1,125 RBI in 1,896 games with the Boston Red Sox ('71-76) and the Milwaukee Brewers ('77-87). He was a five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glover as a first baseman, he also won a Roberto Clemente Award in 1983 and played in two World Series ('75, '82). Cooper also has experience as a coach, director of player development, an agent and managed Triple-A Indianapolis (Milwaukee Brewers) in 2003 and 2004. Cooper was Houston's bench coach from the beginning of 2005 until his promotion to interim manager on Aug. 27.

While Cooper may have ended his short season as manager with a losing record, the front office liked what it saw as Cooper notched two three-game win streaks including the last three games of the season. Cooper was also praised for some of his unconventional maneuvers including his insertion of outfielder Hunter Pence into the leadoff spot. 

Cooper's Impact

It is difficult to predict precisely how Cooper will impact the Astros next season, but we can say with certainty that with him at the helm, the Astros will be running quite a bit more. Cooper loves speed and covets the addition of more players that can move around the bases. As Cooper immediately inserted Pence into the leadoff spot in order to utilize his speed in an attempt to allow him to run more. Pence hit .368 with two homers, 12 RBI and two steals in 57 at-bats in the leadoff spot. While the Astros are lacking quality steal threats, Cooper will take advantage of the opportunities that he has. It will be interesting to see if they give Chris Burke a shot to play second base now that Craig Biggio is retired. Burke has been an enigma thus far, but he may get one final chance due to his speed.

While it generally takes time to determine whether someone is a capable big league manager, Cooper must have some help from new general manager Ed Wade this offseason. Much of his success is dependent on the Astros shoring up a weak starting rotation behind staff-ace Roy Oswalt, and the team is also in dire need of a speedy center fielder and also must address their catcher situation. Catcher Brad Ausmus is 38 years old and clearly not as effective as he used to be. He will also need a solid draft from Wade and their scouts as the Astros' minor league system is amongst the worst in baseball. 

The Astros have four stars locked up in first baseman Lance Berkman, outfielder Carlos Lee, Oswalt and Pence. Their closer situation is iffy with soon-to-be 31-year-old Brad Lidge struggling for two straight years and now coming off knee surgery. Cooper has some talent to work with, but there is a lot of work to do.

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Aaron Adams
Aaron has been with KFFL since 2007.

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