Jim Crane-Best owner in Houston history

The tank was so well worth it. The Astros are are on a great all time stretch. Probably going to go 3 straight seasons winning 100 games. That doesn't happen often. And they are set up to be at this level for at least another two years.

It would be disappointing if the Astros only get one ring out of this core. It's just too good.

 

Rockets were relevant *before* and *after* his tenure.

He did nothing special except prevent NHL.

He's arguably a bad owner.

 

Oh, I'm well aware of that, but a 2nd World Series was not won today.

The Rockets too were a CP3 Hamstring away from winning it all.
The Rockets too made big moves to become contenders.
I remember that time we got Artest to add to Tmac and Yao and how we thought we were contenders.

A ball bouncing here or there and Les has another ring or two.

Yu Darvish playing well and the Astros sit at 0 championships.

The point is Les did create very competitive teams, he did give us contenders just like the Stros have, but you still have to go out and win it.

Les was a pretty aggressive owner, he never settled for mediocrity, and he still has two championships to his name and the 2nd came by a move that was made under his tenure, so he should at least get credit for that one.

 

Les chased down a ref. That in my book is gold. But he also built and had 4 consecutive Comet's championships to his credit. Yes. He built that team.

 

This is the most dominant stretch by any Houston team in Houston sports history.

He built the team that won a championship (unlike Les).

He has been brutally honest (sometimes to a fault) each and every step of the way. He doesn't blow smoke up the fans asses like his predecessor. He doesn't make emotionally rash decisions like all other owners. He treats his team as a business, not a hobby, but apparently he's damn good at running the business by putting experts in charge who run his business very well.

While we're not privy to their finances... with attendance and viewership quite robust, extra income from playoff games, and from what I can tell a very healthy merchandise/branding revenue stream... its safe to say he's getting optimal profitability out of the Astros at this time.

All of that combined makes him the de-facto best owner this franchise has had... and really the city has had (which is still relatively young in its sports history).

 

Agree with all of this.

I will always remember when they showed him immediately after the last out of the WS. No jumping up and down and acting like a fool (which would have been totally understandable). He just calmly stood up out of his seat, shook some hands and smiled as if to say "we're not done yet."

 

Trust the Process.

It's worth it at the end guys. Let's enjoy this ride.

 

Barf. JD Martinez, give me a ****ing break.

When Crane bought the team he knew it was in teardown mode, that's how Waco Drayton set it up.

Crane said, almost literally, "this is going to be painful, but just wait for the payoff."

Are you complaining?

 

What makes it interesting is Crane played baseball, and clearly loves it. But he hired the right guys. I don't think he's hands off, but he definitely seems to trust Luhnow & Co to make most of the decisions. He did hire George Postolos, which was a terrible decision, but stepped in to calm the personnel tension that Postolos caused and then hired Ryan, which helped bring RR and Nolan back where they belong.

I think he just understands the fan perspective very well, and treats the team the way he would want it treated as a fan.

 

You make it sound like it’s easy to tank and win...ever heard of the Browns? Or the Mets?

Plus, we didn’t “dump” JD Martinez...they are still kicking themselves for making that mistake. And the roster Crane inherited was SO bad at both the MLB and MiLB level.

 

They got what was considered a nice haul for Pence. Cosart (who turned into Moran, Martes, Marisnick and a pick that became Daz Cameron). Singleton was a big time prospect. Domingo Santana has hit well and Josh Zeid.

It is exactly what rebuilding teams do. Make trades at the deadline to stockpile younger players.

While the Rockets have not tanked under Morey, they also have not won a championship.

And, JD Martinez was just a screw up. Had nothing to do with money or tanking. Kind of like some of the moves Morey has done with giving up players too soon.

 

The only trade back then that really pissed me off was Michael Bourn

 

Not going to get into best owner debate if there even is one. Well, maybe I will say that Crane is and leave it at that.

I will say that having a brilliant GM like Luhnow and Crane in sync is so freaking important and man does it show.

As Astros fans we all have our little complaints here and there about the organization, but... How freaking fortunate are we right now to be witnessing what we are with the Astros?

I’ve been a fan since 80 and have loved this team like crazy every year since, yes even the awful years.

To me this is hands down (win or lose) the best team ever assembled in Astros history. This is the greatest run imo that this organization has ever seen. I’m so damn grateful to get to live it and share it with my sons.

I hope everyone understands and appreciates the greatness that we are witnessing; It’s pretty incredible.

 

I think there are several factors for why Crane has been such a great owner:

-He played the game, so he has some measure of insight beyond the layman. This is probably not a huge factor but I do think he can understand what is presented to him more easily, and he can more capably develop an informed opinion and make better decisions than other owners who never played.

-He’s a smart business man, so he understands how winning (especially winning to the degree that they are gunning for, meaning multiple WS titles) can build the brand and make more money than being mediocre with lower payrolls. He also knows how to hire the right people and delegate to them. That’s huge as an owner; Luhnow, Hinch, and Crane are like some kind of baseball management holy trinity.

-He’s competitive. This to me is by far the biggest influence over his behavior. I think Jim Crane ****ing HATES to lose and he will do whatever it takes to win even if it means begging investors for more money or taking money out of his own pocket. And even if it means enduring several years of being crummy so he can win for a decade or more.

 

One of my all-time favorite racist war profiteers, I must admit!

 

Stephen A. Smith reaction was amazing on his show today. He is F******* pissed that we got Grienke and i loved every second of it.

 

Weve come from "Lucas Harrell should get the opening day start over Bud Norris" to just casually talking about Chips, not chip, but chips...... Hard to imagine when this org and us as fans never thought we would ever get over "the hump".

 

We need an external media campaign to keep this "Tag" and Brand on Crane's shirt so that he has to pay everyone over the next 3-5 years. It's time to play to his ego in every possible way. And build a bigger trophy room. He'll make more money in the end. Everyone wins.

 

I find the revisionist history very interesting. There is no doubt crane has made awesome moves and the Astros are amazing now!
but we are glossing over the bad of crane while also glossing over the good of Les in order to come to the conclusion that Crane is significantly better than Les.

first lets not forget how much the move to AL sucked at the time and how it allowed Crane to line his pockets, or the fact that we ran a squad out there with a overall salary less than some players max salary. Tanking in baseball is different than tanking in bball or football cause you are still spending a certain amount of salary regardless of tanking or not. Crane all those years got to profit off of a sucky team and those 100 plus losing seasons sucked!

people have also argued that it wasn't really Les who was responsible for the 2 championships and he lucked into it. Well, some of the players that helped the stros win were pre Crane like altuve, springer, dallas, marvin.

The Astros are also lucky (thank god) bc they do not have to deal with an all time dynasty like the Texans (in Patriots) and the Rockets (in warriors) have had to deal with.