The only reason Verlander was on the Astros last year is Crane. Click didn’t want to sign him to the amount he got. Click was fine as a GM, but he wasn’t special.
Didn't you say Click didn't want to resign Gurriel or Brantley, and wanted Gurriel off the playoff roster so Mancini could start there? If so, then Click was a below average GM.
Click didn't hire new minor league coaches. How do you give him credit for developing Meyers and Hensley? That being said, neither has done much yet and I was a big Meyers fan when he was called up.
FWIW, I don't think the argument is whether Click was special. Just weather Lunhow is 100% responsible for the Astros winning the World Series and whether any random poster here could have done as well as Click.
Click was hired into a very difficult spot. Team was dealing with the biggest MLB scandal since roids era. He didn't get to hire his own manager. The system was all ready filled with talent so no way he gets credit for the winning roster handed to him. He had to manage Crane's impulses verse his desire to be value conscience and Dusty's stubborness to play which ever player. I think he made some good moves and some bad moves. Overall he pulled the correct lever enough in 3 season to get us to the WS and win it. A few will never see the gray area in life its all or nothing thinking for them and it's nearly impossible to have a rational discussion. I thank Luhnow, Crane, Dusty, and Click for 2022 Championship. They all have decisions that were made on that roster and player development that played a role.
Hard to judge a GM who: 1. inherited a championship caliber roster that didn’t need much change 2. was given a manager he didn’t choose 3. Inherited a team coming off a scandal that limited the risks the team could take 4. Inherited a loss of draft picks that dramatically reduced the GM’s ability to develop internal talent or trade for external talent. 5. Worked for a very involved owner who dictated the largest roster moves and resource expenditures Under Click’s watch the team kept winning (including a WS) and the long term outlook appears to have improved from when he took over. He was a successful GM who had personality conflict and philosophical differences with his boss (the owner). It happens. Doesn’t make him a failure.
Click wanted Mancini over Gurriel. However, a lot of people wanted Mancini over Gurriel in the playoffs so that isn't shocking. Click also didn't want to give Verlander the player option in year two. Verlander could have gotten hurt and the player option could have looked terrible... and Gurriel was bad during the regular season so no way to know that he would heat up in the playoffs.... so the outcome from Click was bad but the reasoning wasn't necessarily. I personally think that Click was done in with how he handled the trade deadline.
I understand not having us win again, but to not even be listed as making it? Cmon. edit: picture not showing up, sorry.
When you have a championship level team and you don't spend the 30 million dollars the boss gives you to make the team better, you F'ed up.
What if spending that $30MM would have resulted in the Astros not winning the World Series? Or hamstrung them from winning a future World Series? It would be one thing if he didn't spend that money in 2021 and they didn't win. But he didn't spend it in 2022 and they DID win. With a roster that you say anyone could have won with, so apparently it didn't need improvement anyway.
It's like not wanting pocket aces instead of the 9 10 suited you won a poker tournament with. Sure you won, but you still want to increase your odds.
I do not believe we have really begun to see Click's results at the MLB level yet. Most of this years graduating prospects will be guys who where already in the system or pending before Click arrived. Even next year few successes will be attributable to Click. 2025 will be the first season that will be a real measure of Clicks abilities and by then his replacement will have begun reshaping the team. Click's effect on the team will be minimized by the minor league downsizing and the resultant short draft years. The lost Covid season as well as the lost first and second rounders for two seasons all work to limit the damage or the good he could do.
People don’t get this and it’s crazy. You can sit on 15 or 16 against a 10 all day long and win plenty of times but it diminishes your chance of winning it all. There is just luck involved. But the GM’s job is imo to give you the best possible odds. We didn’t field as good a team as we could have last year with 30M unspent. But we won anyway. Cool. Love it as a fan. Don’t enjoy the process of leaving incremental improvement on the table like we did.
That is some 20/20 hindsight. IIRC the Astros limped into the playoffs (29-31) with some huge question marks wrt pitching.
But not everyone can win with a 9 10 suited. You claimed the team was so good that literally anyone could win with it.
I would have to say no. Many random posters would have a payroll higher than the Mets and a worse team. They woould relegate Javier to the bull pen and bring in a Starting Loser. Then they would keep Brown in the minors until he reaches Social Security,
Because he traded for him. I’m not giving Luhnow credit for keeping him here… that goes to Crane. Click certainly doesn’t get credit if the reports are true that he advised they don’t re-sign him after the TJ surgery. That in/of itself could have added to Crane’s negative assessment of Click’s decision making over 3 years.
SPECULATION Tucker gets 2023 26 Arb1 $7.5M 2024 27 Arb2 $12.5M 2025 28 Arb3 $20M 2026 29 FA $25M 2027 30 FA $30M 2028 31 FA $35M Player conditional Option with $5M buyout - $40M Team option if he declines the player option or fails to meet the conditions. Total $100M with potential for $135M. AAV $20M.
Tuck's pretty set on hitting free agency. I don't think you're going to tempt him by buying out two (or three) FA years at 30m per. He's got a bigger chance at one of these mega-contracts as a 29-year-old rather than at 32. He's almost guaranteed to end up with $200m from someone, at some point.
