There's a difference between being a team going through a rough patch vs "the worst team in professional sports". Hell, within baseball itself, the Marlins share a mutual "apathetic" relationship with their fans that can't be topped. But, your hyperbole should be saved for franchises that have had decades of both poor performance on the field/court along with deadbeat owners who have done nothing to help improve their teams over that time (The LA Clippers are still probably the worst franchise of anybody's current lifetime, their recent success excluded). And considering that Crane has his staff signing each and every draft pick thus far (some over slot), and they didn't go cheap on the #1 overall pick for "signability" issues assures me that he's at least following through on the rebuilding plan to its fullest.
Oh everybody believes in the plan. Nobody smart is pissed off about that. ...but then there's: 1. Move to AL (don't believe it was contingent on the sale of the club. That was just how it was spun...$70M discount...) 2. Billboard in left field -- major issue that pisses everybody off. I can't believe ANYBODY ever thought that would be a good idea. It's hideous, tacky junk. Find another way to support charity besides that atrocity. 3. CSN deal is an unprecedented failure for the Houston fan base. Major issue. Who loses? The fans. 4. "Why don't YOU write a $10M check if you want better players" -J Crane 5. "The Astros haven't made money in years! Waaaaaaaa!" -J Crane 5. The other thing -- I'm fine with a low payroll during the rebuilding. But Jim, what are you doing with that savings compared to other teams? Pocketing it? Well thanks. How about spending big on coaching talent, int'l free agents, latin american development, fan improvements (concerts, etc)...
Kewl. The Charlotte Bobcats beg to differ, and do you know what a "farm system" is? Blanket statements are cool.
Also, this has probably been said, but the Astros/Rockets would have much better leverage if the Rockets get Dwight and/or Chris Paul. I can't imagine anything getting done before the NBA free agency issue is resolved. The Astros poor performance this year provides absolutely no leverage at all. A lot of people just don't care if they miss loss after loss on tv.
Coaching talent? Like to know what that is... are there a lot of high priced baseball coaches out there sitting around jobless? Is it really feasible to go out there and pay Tony LaRussa $10 million a year to come out of retirment to coach this team? As for the rest, at least he's coming through in an area that was a big part of the current state of affairs... drafting talented players, not just based on signability, and actually signing them. International free agents and latin american development is still Luhnow's regime... and its not the "untapped market" that it was even 5 years ago. Every team out there has the chance to sign these guys now (not just the big market teams), and its just a matter of time before they're included in the amateur draft (or there's an additional draft for them). Also not sure what concerts you want the Astros to throw for Houston. Agreed that the billboards in LF have to go. Hell, he's made enough in savings to cover all the extra unused space on those (and then some).
Yes, coaching talent. Bring in additional coaches. Hell, the MLB roster could use a few Tom Emanski (w Fred McGriff!) instructional videos to improve their play. OK, so it's tougher to sign int'l free agents. So you just want to give up. OK. Come on, man. Concerts are proven to excite fans and get people out to the games. Bring in The Wiggles for the families, some Melissa Etheridge for Mayor Parker's crew and Jaguares for la raza. It gets people out to the games.
If you have the ability to read, you would understand what I was talking about. If you read my comments you would know how I feel about the farm system, if anything I am higher on it than most here. My comments were regarding cranes attitude towards the fans, and that he probably has less leeway with his fan base because his team has been the worst in professional sports since he bought the team. That reference was to the team here in Houston, if calling them the worst is an exaggeration then I'm sure glad we haven't been truly bad
as generally happens with business-side-of-baseball discussion on the Internets, this thread is just dripping with stupid.
When it comes to how an owner talks to his fan base, it doesn't matter so much about decades. The major league team that he owns has been horrible, in my opinion. He would have been better to shut his mouth the past two years, in my opinion
Well great. I agree as well. However, crane does like to say stupid things. Wouldn't be the first new owner to make the mistake. Hell, plenty of old owners still do the same thing. Crane bought a bad team. I don't see his on field actions as the act of somebody who is plotting to make them worse. I don't care as much about what my owners say (or don't say) as I care about how they're rebuilding the system. Crane can be as vocal as he wants... As long as he lets the people he hired do the jobs they were hired for, it's fine with me. I realized a while ago not to get caught up in what an owner of a sports team says (good or bad).
The Astros are a loooooooooooooooooooong way from the worst team in professional sports. Even with their recent success, I'd still put the Clippers towards the bottom, with all of Ohio professional football, the Royals, Marlins, the Bobcats, etc., etc. There are many more teams that are just terrible franchises from top to bottom. The Astros aren't one of them.
I don't generally disagree with that, but to me this thread isn't so much about how well the owner builds the system. And I would also venture to guess that Comcast customers like him more than those of us that can't watch
The International signing period begins July 2. Let's see how that plays out this year before cirticizing their direction in that effort.
Perhaps. In the end, the whole cable tv/subscribers/channel lineups/distribution fee model is all going to be blown up. Its all moving towards on demand, ala-carte, mobile device access. There will basically be no discernable diference between "interenet" and "cable/dish". Its all the same thing... bandwidth to serve digital content. Till then, I'll be happy to switch, or continue on with comcast, to watch my sports teams with the only medium available. If I didn't live in the Houston area, I'd probably pick them up on the MLB or NBA packages. If anything, Astros fans should be thankful that THIS is the time where the team isn't available to the masses, not 2-3 years from now where they could be contending.
So the clippers have been worse than the Astros since crane has owned them? I must have been smoking crack
For most yes you are right, I want to watch them right now as much as I ever have, love the Astros and always will
Why is it about what is happening only right this second? But to answer your question, Jim Crane didn't thrown his best player under the bus to explain the coach being fired.
