[Rosenthal] Rift between Bo Porter and Jeff Luhnow???

Exactly.

What do they expect Bo to do? They have provided him with nothing and expect the team to get to .500 this year?

 

Screw Rosenthal. He loves to hate on the Astros. I seriously doubt there's any substance to this story.

I'm not surprised to see Lopez back him up. The FO doesn't like Lopez, so Lopez has been somewhat of an outcast...obviously he's going to back up a reported rift like this.

FWIW, I think McTaggert is awful too.

 

If Porter doesn't want anybody to question his in-game decisions, he should start making better in-game decisions.

Can't comment on how much impact his "friendship" with the players has on the ball club, and the players may very well have his "back"... but I don't think baseball really needs that sort of relationship between its "head coach" and players (unlike football or basketball).

I'll gladly take a manger that makes the "right" in-game decisions and is mutually hated by players, over one who gets those wrong but is also friends with them.

 

Who is Lopez in your post? Are you really referring to Ortiz?

 

Yeah, my bad. I meant Ortiz.

 

Did he break it, or Heyman? I know the first one was pure speculation, and the 2nd one had real info.

 

If this team had stayed healthy, and had Springer from day 1, I think we'd still have a chance at .500. I don't think we'd get there, but I'd think we'd have another 5 wins or so with a healthier Springer/Albers/Crain/Fowler/Presley.

 

So never mind that we're gonna have close to a 20 game improvemnet, or that we've been playing close to .500 ball over the last 100 games.

When this teams starts winning regularly it's gonna be so damn sweet to shut up these haters.

 

But they purposely did not put the best team out on the field from day one due to both $$$ (springer) reasons along with experimental (Harrel) reasons.

That right there is enough fodder for the "haters" to stick with their guns and criticize this team, and the front office, till the team gets better.

What's funny is that I don't think any of the beat writers would say with a straight face that Bo Porter is a good manager... but yet they're going to exploit this "controversy" simply because it's another example of this team being a "losing/dysfunctional" team that has had more screw-up stories than success stories over the last 3+ years.

 

No kidding - what exactly did people expect Crane to say? That he thought the team should be bad this year? What owner does that?

 

True but its hard to make decisions when you are worried about what the boss might want

Remember a while back when we "argued" a little over whether or not the GM made any "game" decisions

Hate the Chron writers and that's great, but Luhnow is likely someone that is very difficult to work with

So this story might be driven by the Chron to spread negative stuff, but that doesn't mean everything at the Juice Box is hunky dory

 

I agree where there's smoke, there's fire.

Additionally, it sort of re-iterates that Luhnow isn't making any game decisions... and is questioning Porter about his decisions after the fact (which Porter doesn't like).

Its annoying that the Astros are always painted as the "bad guys" in nearly every article about them (especially by the local media), but lets be honest... their arrogance (while building a team that hasn't been very good) has certainly not "helped" them gain any favor amongst anybody. Their bungling of the draft picks, with subsequent grievances, and getting the ire of the players association/MLB deserved as much criticism as anything... and shouldn't be absolved simply because they get the compensation pick next year. Add in the CSN debacle, and you can see why NON-stories like the Appel thing end up getting blown out of proportion.

They need to pay somebody off again to write another puff piece like the SI article...

 

What have you done to be a champion today?



Bungled one thing after another.

:grin:

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Bo Porter said he has not talked with Crane about Luhnow.</p>&mdash; Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/505464363701239808">August 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>&quot;At no point in the season have I sat down with Jim Crane to discuss my relationship with Jeff Luhnow,&quot; Bo Porter said.</p>&mdash; Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/OrtizKicks/statuses/505464956125319168">August 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>&quot;I'm not going to talk about personal relationships ... at no point in this season have I sat down with Jim Crane about my rltshp w Jeff&quot;-Bo</p>&mdash; Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/505465225274212353">August 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Do you &amp; Jeff have a strong functional rltshp? &quot;I think we function for the overall goal of the Houston Astros organization&quot; which is to win</p>&mdash; Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/505465727789568000">August 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jeff Luhnow has no comment. Said by phone he is out of town but will be back tomorrow.</p>&mdash; Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/505467842209521666">August 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Where did the owner say the Astros should be .500?

What the owner said was: "I would love to see us get to .500."

Another example of stuff being way over blown.

I admit that I want to know what exactly Craine did to the Chronicle to make them so unbelievably anti Astros. When I have asked employees (sister) and people close to the situation I only get a smile and a chuckle.

 

Agree for the most part

What I'm saying on game decisions is this though

Maybe Bo is thinking " I should do this but then I know Jeff won't like it so maybe ill just do this instead cause maybe the boss will like that better"

That kind of thinking is certainly not good for making in game decisions, and it could certainly lead to the kind of stuff we are reading about

 

It all depends on how you read it. When I was in school, and my mother said: "I would love to see you get an "A" in math", it was implied that not only did she want me to, but thought I was capable of it.

Unless you and your sister are very distant, and she has a speech impairment as well, I have a hard time envisioning she couldn't give more than a smile and a chuckle to such a question.

 

Two things that are in no way unique to the Houston Astros.

 

Yes... but other teams haven't been as obvious about doing it, while putting together this bad of a losing team at the MLB level.

The improvement this year is real... but criticism of how they've gotten here (and the last 3+ years in general) is expected.

Its annoying, yes... but not surprising.