Astros retain Cooper

Cecil Cooper will be back as manager of the Astros next year.

Astros owner Drayton McLane has been so impressed with the leadership abilities displayed by Cecil Cooper during his monthlong stint as interim manager that he decided to make things a little more permanent.

Cooper had the interim tag removed Friday when he was named the club's 16th manager.

One week after hiring Ed Wade as general manager, the Astros signed Cooper to a two-year deal with a club option for 2010.

"It's a great thrill for me, and it's an honor to stand here and say I'm the new manager of the Houston Astros," Cooper said. "It's a good feeling. I really appreciate Drayton, (president of baseball operations) Tal (Smith) and Ed for showing a lot of confidence in me and giving me this opportunity."

Cooper is the first black manager in Astros history and the 14th in the history of the major leagues.

"I'm pleased that that is the case, but I still can't focus on that," Cooper said. "I have a job to do, and whether I'm blue, green or black, I'm going to do it."

First, my congratulations to Cecil Cooper, who I'm sure will do a fine job. With all due respect to him and to Phil Garner, however, I don't think this is the key move for the Stros, because I don't think their problems are on the field. They have issues with putting sentimentality ahead of productivity (see Craig "Mister 3000" Biggio and Brad "Catcher ERA Proves My Awesomeness" Ausmus), and a depleted farm system due to poor drafting. Cooper won't have to deal with the Biggio situation, and perhaps with the emergence of JR Towles he'll have a catcher who can actually hit. Beyond that, I say Cooper's success will be determined at least as much by Ed Wade's as anything else. We'll see how it goes.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 30, 2007 to Baseball