PHIL GARNER IN, JIMY WILLIAMS AS HOUSTON MANAGER
Ol' Scrap Iron has a new job. He'll be the manager of the underachieving Houston Astros. This move didn't really surprise anybody, as everybody expected some type of move to be done by the Houston Astros, who were picked to be one of the top teams in baseball, but find themselves in 5th place in the NL Central.

Phil Garner worked his magic for one year as a rookie manager of the Brewers back in 1992. That year the Brewers ran wild all over the American League. It didn't hurt that they lead the AL in ERA either. Garner's next best year was when the team finished 80-82 in 1996. He was at the helm of the Brewers from 1992 until the final days of 1999.

Garner managed the Detroit Tigers from 2000 until the early days of 2002. His career record as a manager is 708-802 (.469).

I don't know how much this move will help the Astros, because Garner seemed to like to run a lot, but he doesn't really have the personnel to employ that type of strategy. BELTRAN can run, BIGGIO a little, but other than that I don't see an opportunity for him to have this squad run wild like the '92 Brewers did.

Jimy Williams was the scape goat in Boston a few years ago, when he was replaced by JOE KERRIGAN and Boston quickly faded away.