It's tough to compare because if they had taken a different path and maybe given Click a free hand he probably would have done things that would be difficult for us to anticipate. Who could anticipate Yainer Diaz or Seth Martinez? Either way, we would be in a much better position today that I would just about bet my life on. The whole situation sucks, and I feel bad for Dana who has been put in an impossible position. Probably what is leading to some of this weirdness from him in interviews. But I guess he signed up for it...
None of Dana Brown moves have panned out…. Sure getting Verlander was awesome, but that was instigated by Verlander himself. Hader was looked as a coup type move in the offseason, but the way he’s pitching, you might have fared the same putting Hunter Brown out there as your closer.
True, even though Passan is correct. Brown had the money to add a starting pitcher or an OF. He decided to add a backup catcher. Crane's the real reason the team has fallen off. He and Bags playing GM didn't work out well. If Crane would've spent the money the team would still be great. At some point losing star level players comes back to bite Crane and this year the bill has come due. They don't have the pitching to be contenders.
Bagwell was an amazing player. But he seemed to have a very salty personality, not conducive for building the title contender they should have in the 90’s. And as GM he isn’t very good at all, chasing Abreu with a wad of cash to provide nil… But the problem is that Crane inherited a team in total shambles. Drayton McClane left it bone dry of any sort of talent. And then the fiasco with the Tockets/Asttos network imploded horribly, leaving an Astros game with zero people watching according to the Neilson ratings. Therefore, I sense Crane got jealous when Luhnow was getting all of the acolytes for putting the team together. Crane jumped at the opportunity to fire Luhnow, when he didn’t have to. The Astros won the 2nd title with competent GM’s bringing in the core of the offense and pitching. But now, it’s bad, the pipeline is in abysmal condition talent wise.
If true, then you would think Crane would've hired from within. Manfred made Crane fire Luhnow and in exchange Crane was exonerated. This is why Crane also went outside the org to hire a GM/Manager. I wouldn't be surprised if Manfred made Crane hire Dusty because of image.
Blubaugh and the guy in AA that Brown drafted last year have very high ceilings and are the next wave of young pitching. Maybe even as early as next year. Hunter Brown has been such a disappointment. The Stros will be good for a long time if they keep Altuve, Alvarez, Tucker, Pena together. Hopefully Singleton can come through for the long term and Brown adds a Kiner- Kalafa type guy to fill in the gap at 3rd. Gotta get a look at Loperfido to see if he has a future in the OF. Trade Bregs, Framberand JV for pitching prospects and with the money saved add a couple of Montgomery type pitchers and hope Garcia can make it back. This isn't a total rebuild, but signing Tucker, which is going to cost Crane more than he's ever been willing to pay before.
Well I guess it’s always been my own bias and frustration with Crane for firing Luhnow. I thought Luhnow righted a sunk ship faster than I thought was humanly possible. His moves were result oriented, and he knew when to cut his losses. He managed the talent system with precision and care. The competition was fast and furious, but a level of respectful tone permeated the organization as a whole. Cutting ties with one time top prospect, and touted as a bonafide future ace Mark Appel to go with guys actually performing well, gained admiration from everyone within the organization and even outside of the team in baseball. Luhnow stepped on a lot of toes and did the analytics better than anyone in baseball. It looked like a system that kept getting better year after year. So I thought Crane should have fought for his GM, but he roasted him like he was an embarrassment, an ingrate of a human being. He was suspended for 1 year and Crane did the rest of baseball a favor by exiling Luhnow.
HE'S NOT THE MOTHER****ING ******* GM YOU DUMB SUMSOBICHES How many times does this have to be explained...37, 38? 220, 221?
Well I only brought it up because he was the catalyst for going after Abreu. I am aware it was an organizational decision, but he was front and center during the Abreu negotiations when the Astros had parted way with their GM.
Granted, packaging Appel for Giles could have ended up better. And not signing Aiken led us to Bregman...
I have a feeling that for Jake Bloss in particular it's not completely out of the question for him to be with the Astros by some time in June depending on how he does. Slow and methodical is out the window when you're on a 100 loss pace. If someone can help, he will be up.
I agree with a lot of this. But I also think guys like Loperfido ,Baez, Gomez, Leon Blubaugh, Bloss have a lot more potential than you do.
If I'm Houston I go to Tucker and Bregmans agents and don't **** around. Here's where we are at numbers wise. If they aren't interested it's time to move on. I suspect that's where Tucker would be at. Then the next conversation is Verlander. Obviously he has a limited amount of teams but he'll have a little Val. Then your see where Frambers head is. If you have to move h you do and he'll bring a lot back. Time to deal in reality
Those were both entirely Jim Crane moves. When you go player by player on the roster you realize he has had almost zero impact on the core of the roster. Both catchers are probably his (he probably pushed for Diaz to start even if he didn't acquire him), Singleton, and the lower half of the pen..that's it. He hasn't been allowed to make an imprint on the team is any significant way. The great players he inherited were locked in, and Crane has personally chosen the big ticket signings. Someday we may have a GM that is actually allowed to fully GM the organization, but it hasn't happened since Luhnow left. Crane hires farm directors not GM's.
Whose decision was it to bring back Javier after 1 rehab? Was it brown? He clearly wasn’t ready. it just adds insult to injury with the dfa to bielak. they should have kept Javier down for at least another start and had a bull pen game.
