None of the grousing by the kids should have ever left the clubhouse, but your manager has done similar things repeatedly throughout his tenure. I think he'll be a fine manager/coach in a future gig, but was seemingly not the right guy to manage this situation.
Thankfully, the Texans signed JJ to an extension today so that we may not have to have this decision beat into the ground. Also, can someone let Brian T. Smith know that 1) you were one of the worst writers we have had "cover" the Astros and 2) that your opinion carries little to know weight? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Reader comment: "So basically Porter questioned King Luhnow and lost his job for it."</p>— Nick Mathews (@Nick_Mathews) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nick_Mathews/statuses/506511147596410881">September 1, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Ineptitude, insecurity, ego ... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a>.</p>— Brian T. Smith (@ChronBrianSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronBrianSmith/statuses/506482471005732864">September 1, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> gave Porter crap product, at best, on the field for two seasons. Firing says everything about Crane-Luhnow and state of Astros.</p>— Brian T. Smith (@ChronBrianSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronBrianSmith/statuses/506477468404817920">September 1, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> We get it, dude. You hate the Astros and how they are run. Go back to being a mediocre writer for a paper that seemingly stopped caring.
Porter's intensity seemed to be his one positive as a Manager. Frankly, I've always wondered what decisions were his, and which were the front office's. Who has Fowler hitting behind Chris Carter, despite leading the team in OBP? Who has Fowler playing center over Marisnick? Porter has made 2 huge mistakes regarding substitutions in his 2 seasons, that a manager should know the rules regarding.
Porter was the designated fall guy who was doomed from the start because like any true baseball guy, he wanted to actually win games. Unfortunately for Porter, the ALastros aren't about winning baseball games but rather about proving themselves to be the smartest guys in the room (ala Enron) with their whiz-bang focus on analytics because that's the narrative they are selling to what's left of the baseball fans in Houston. It all makes sense to me now - this isn't about baseball but rather one long (read years) science experiment. I have to agree with Mad Max in that they should forgo the manager entirely and let a computer fill out the lineup card under the close guidance of Luhnow and his merry band of geniuses.
Again blah blah blah. They didn't hire Porter just to fire him. So now we are going to rely on a Wall Street Journal article and not the Sports Illustrated one? Further the idea that the Astros long term goal isn't to win games is bush league.
Nook. They obviously fired him because Crane is racist, the Astros want to never be good, and we are going to have a formula be hired as the manager. Don't you read the news?
I have the same questions you do. I also agree that Porter was the wrong hire. Why did they ever hire him? I don't know, it seems to happen a lot in baseball. I remember the Cubs front office getting ripped for hiring and firing Dale Sveum. Ultimately Sveum said analytics are trash and claimed the front office was meddling in baseball decisions. My guess is Porter sounded more open minded in interviews and they valued his intensity. In reality he wasn't as open minded and a rift developed. If I were Porter my question would be, teams that use the shift like Boston and Oakland and Tampa were able to chop 50 points off the other teams averages with the shift. The Astros? Well teams hit BETTER against the shift last year, over 300 against the shift. Either Porter was selectively using the shift and doing so poorly, the Astros math was poor or it was unbelievably bad luck. We will never know how much fault applies.
Richard Justice was on the radio this morning talking about how he can rarely remember a manager who received less flattering "off the record" comments from players who are no longer on the team than Bo Porter. A fiery attitude is great if your players respect you. Besides some comments from Feldman, it doesn't seem like many players are sticking their neck out for him. If you're going to ignore instructions from your boss, you better be (1) right a lot and (2) a great locker room presence. It doesn't appear that Bo was really anything other than passionate. I liked Bo, but it sounds like this move had to happen.
Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner... again, the writing was on the wall of who he was after his first 50 or so games, and he just seemed like a total mis-fit compared to what this team was trying to do. At least the front office has to have learned a lesson on how to properly evaluate its managerial candidates... the computer should tell them that they're all going to say the "right" things in interviews. They should probably give them a written test or something, with nothing but baseball scenarios, and see how they respond.
"Astros officially back at square one" is offically an idiotic headline for the especially idiotic Chronicle.
I agree with both of you. The guy who: Hired a manager that he now calls a bad fit and fires him in less than 2 seasons. Fails to sign 3 draft picks Has "confidential information" leak outside the organization Signs a terrific free agent who never sees the field thinks the club needs to go in a new direction.......
OK smart guy: Please show where they have conclusively demonstrated a commitment to winning games. Go ahead, I'll wait. They have clearly showed their reverence for the God of analytics as they are taking this approach to the extreme but putting a representative team on the field? Sorry, I must have missed that memo. I am not interested in their so-called long term strategy because all they are selling is sunshine and flowers. Oh yeah, it should be very good to be an Alastros fan... in 5 to 10 years. As for Porter, he was done before they hired him. Bo's usefullness to Luhnow & Crane had run its course so he was jettisoned (which was the plan all along - Next!). In the coming days, I fully expect to start hearing criticism of his won-loss record. Already seeing tweets about his not being with the program, his "inflexibility" with taking advice (directives) from the front office, his managerial mistakes that may have cost them games (I really get a good giggle from that one) and so on. What happened came as no surprise and I fully expect the same thing to happen to the next guy the trot out in the manager's uniform.
