Bennett Q&A

Following the Astros Winter Caravan Luncheon on January 22, staff ace Roy Oswalt, former Hook Hunter Pence, broadcaster Jim Deshaies and assistant general manager Ricky Bennett visited Corpus Christi high school baseball players at Carroll to field their questions about the game.

This week, we look at what Ricky Bennett had to say. Bennett is in his fifth year of directing the Astros player development system.  Before moving to Houston, he spent eight campaigns with the Detroit Tigers in scouting and player development.  Bennett played professionally for five seasons after graduating from the University of Oklahoma, where he helped the Sooners to the 1992 College World Series.

How do you handle rumors about the Astros trading Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence?

To answer the question, Roy, no! Hunter, no! These are two special players and any time you build a championship club, you have to have guys who have the ability to carry you that day. We talk with every team in Major League Baseball to try and improve our club. And when we do that, whether it's Boston, New York or St. Louis, they always ask about Roy and they always ask about Hunter. And our answer is always no. When we try to improve our club, we try to keep the core nucleus intact. Both Roy and Hunter are part of that nucleus.

Do you laugh at some of the rumors that are thrown out there?

Absolutely. The first thing I do when I get into the office is go online and check out ESPN and MLB.com and it's like 'Roy Oswalt to the Yankees.' Where's that one coming from? Sometimes it's a reporter trying to run with a story, but a lot of the times it's other clubs trying to get the rumor mill going just to see if we have an interest in trading that particular player. Mostly, those rumors aren't true.

What was the thinking in giving up young pitching for Miguel Tejada?

I have been asked that question quite a bit in the past. It's important to have excellent defense and pitching. With respect to defense, we felt like Miguel Tejada could bring that to our club. Not only that, his presence, leadership and offensive ability, in our eyes, was something that we needed to add to our club. And sometimes when you acquire good players, you have to give up good players. Our philosophy is that we will improve the Major League club for someone in our farm system that is unproven. Players that we gave up for Miguel, at this point, aren't proven.

What's the status of Carlos Lee?

He's ready to go, fully healthy. He went through a strenuous rehab program this winter and he'll be ready to start the season right out of spring training.

Talk about the Astros-Hooks exhibition game at Whataburger Field in April.

It's going to be unbelievable. I was talking with Roy on the plane ride here about how excited the fans were when we won the Texas League Championship in 2006. That's the energy and support the fans bring to the Hooks and the city. So, I'm really excited to have the big club come down and experience that firsthand.