I agree, I have no clue if Dusty would have the same results, but this team needs a change, I don't think Espada is the only reason we have sucked this long but like with any job the Manager is accountable for the final product, fair or not the Astros look uninspired, and you have to make a change for the good of the team. Shake it up , bring in some new blood, its probably to late but you never know.
ok. let's look forward. Espada doesn't last through the end of the month. Who's the interim? Lopez? Clark? I don't think Pettis takes it. Do you bring someone else in? Talking about last year's guy is great and everything, but looking forward - what are your options?
It doesn’t matter. They’ve been playing the same mediocre inconsistent sub .500 baseball for a full calendar year now. They need better pitching, better clutch hitting, and an infusion of actual star talent to replace or supplement the current “stars” that just aren’t able to carry the team like they used to. Bregman and Yordan will likely wake up at some point. Diaz likely will get hot. Pena/Dubon will likely stay consistent enough to be ideal role players… but these guys are all who they are. Debating about Meyers vs Loperfido vs. Singleton vs 26th man roster stuff is just a useless exercise given that the guys expected to really be the heavy lifters (minus Tucker) aren’t really showing up or are on the down-sides of their careers.
Completely agree with this post. The FO structure is worrisome, very. What the "advisors" (BBJ) and Crane have done in a silo hasn't worked. They need to be shuttled off to the media affairs or community relations dept and let Brown do his job without one of these advisors influencing Crane to go uni lateral on moves. Hader was a pure ego move by Crane, "the one that got away I now have back" that really you didn't need......
Frankly, he seems like a nice guy that is a step or two above his ideal position. I am not crazy about Brown either. I think Crane has been listening to the wrong advisors.
This is all Crane's mess and so far he has shown no desire to make the changes to the organization to correct it. I don't expect the Astros to contend again until Crane sells the team or he course corrects completely by firing the HOF shitheads and removes himself from all personnel decisions.
this is what a LOT if not MOST fans & talking heads are missing-- the inability to link June/July 2023 until now. Ship was already taking on water the minute we sat down at the table, being womp-womped with Dusty-dealings & mold growing at an exponential rate close to the plate.
A year ago on the day of your post, the Astros were 18-18. The proceeded to finish 90-72, playing 18 games over 0.500 baseball for the remainder of last season, and making it to game 7 of the ALCS, also playing over-0.500 baseball in the playoffs.
The tweet used June 6th as the inflection date. And the point was that this has been an up/down team (on both sides of the dish) beyond just a rough start or an injury or two. now if starting pitching can just somehow stabilize, I do think they’ll have enough offense to win games. team ERA is saying this team’s record is what it should be… but it’s the one aspect of the team that has to get better based on who should be throwing the bulk of the pitches for the rest of the year.
Except last year, it wasn't. It was one of the best teams in baseball. This year, it's not been an up/down team either - they've been outright bad.
It is ridiculous to think we would bring in Cora after what we did to Lunhow. Just absolute stupidity by the ownership.
They were also under .500 at home. They were also forced to trade top prospects for more pitching and did luck out somewhat with their playoff draw due to collapses by Seattle/Texas in the final week. Framber had a bad second half and Javier hasn’t really been consistent since the second half of 2022. The offense has been up/down this year in terms of good average/HR’s…. Bad RISP numbers that aren’t just sequencing of order related. Bregman/Yordan have had stretches they can’t afford. Altuve/Tucker required to carry them. There’s also a tendency for this team when they’re down early that the offense will sleepwalk. Probably a trend that most teams have but it’s been a recurring theme of these Astros the last 2 years and magnified at home when they don’t bat first.
Because it’s beyond the Astros. There’s a directive by MLB against Luhnow and only Luhnow. Why else would no other team give him a chance given that the other participants have gotten chances?
Team is 13-10 when anybody but France/Brown/Arighetti starts. That's with the bullpen being.....not great, Yordan/Bregs having by far their worst years, and Abreu being an absolute zero. It's almost like competitive starting pitching is kind of important to how well a manager performs.
