Three times, I think? Wasn't he an advisor in the 2000's during our NLCS and WS runs in 04/05, only to leave for the Rangers before their two WS runs?
Reid was a critical part of putting together the team that drafted and cultivated some of those key bobblehead designs over the past few years. It will be a huge loss for the organization. Not sure how we will recover. You guys do realize he was just a highly paid "face" for the media and a glorified party planner, right? Dude had nothing to do with putting a team on the field. Nice guy but really not a big deal here.
My first response or gut feeling is that Nolan is reacting as a dad, not as a baseball executive. "I dont like your new plan for my son so f*** y**". Well, ok . Seems a little petty and childish. But whatever. In the days to come, more info may arise. But I have been behind every move that Crane has made and been proud of it until now. Crane has made a crucial error if he thought the Ryan's news wouldn't have serious blowback. Did Reid do something we dont know about, or maybe never know about, to deserve this? Related to the Taubman thing?
Possible reasons for this: 1. Reid Ryan was somehow involved in the Taubman thing or otherwise has dirty laundry. I consider this unlikely. And if it is true, Crane should have exposed it. 2. Crane let Reid know he was going to start working his son in the mix and that meant Reid was going to have to eventually go. This would be monumentally stupid on Crane’s part. 3. The Ryan’s had designs on becoming part owners of the Astros and Crane rejected them. This would be a bad look for everybody. Either way, other than the immediate bad PR resulting from losing a relationship with somebody who is widely revered, the main impact will be with the minor league teams, which Crane has largely mitigated by buying the hooks and laying the groundwork to bring AAA to Sugarland or another suburb.
Thats why his title was "President of Business Operations" and if you really believe he was just a face, I wouldve loved to have seen attendance 2012-2014 without him. The average hovered at 20k and thats because he put in the family friendly value deals, along with allowing families to bring their own food and drinks to the ball game. Without it, there was probably gonna be an even sadder 15k average attendance a game. He also brought back the beloved H Star logo with the colors that has been voted one of the best designed jerseys in all of baseball, leading to selling the hell out merchandise and gear to drive up revenue.
It’s mainly a big deal because you want Nolan around. Will it matter I’m the grand scheme of things? Probably not, but it’s something i want for a few different reasons.
Its pretty clear the "Ryan's" were a pair. Lose one, you lose both. Mostly, I wonder if the story goes deeper or not. Most likely a bruising of egos somewhere in the mix.
