There is going to be a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth when Baker gets extended for another year
Hell, who knows... maybe we still will. I think Hinch would be welcomed back and it was one of those "Crane had to do it" kinda things. I'd love Hinch back.
Crane has had one of the best teams in baseball since 2015 to the present. I think Crane placates to MLB, but at the end of the day Crane makes sure his team is winning. MLB has had many requests of Crane, and Crane always seems to abide. i think MLB needed Dusty hired, and Crane said welcome aboard. Dusty is a solid manager, but I think that with a Manager like Hinch, the Astros would be at 75 wins instead of 70. But after the scandal of the trash cans, Crane was going to do whatever MLB asked of him.
Not to be controversial but Baker was only hired because in the wake of the cheating scandal the Astros needed a qualified manager that journalists/fans would be reluctant to attack. An amiable elderly African American with boatloads of experience was the perfect choice. Now that the moment has passed, Baker is very likely no longer the best person for the job. I will be very surprised if he is back next season. (if this comment is viewed as political or offensive that is not my intention and mods can feel free to delete)
I think you're correct as far as why he was originally hired but I don't know what it's really accomplished in that regard. Members of the media and the fans still have a very negative opinion of the franchise, and the cheating scandal is on everyone's mind when the Astros are playing. By the time the Dusty hire was made the story had already crystalized that the Astros' cheating scheme was arguably the most egregious scandal in baseball history. It doesn't matter that a substantial amount of evidence has come to light indicating that the Astros didn't benefit from the scandal. It doesn't matter that another organization was caught twice cheating during the same time period and other orgs have cheated in the past and are rumored to have been cheating during the same time period. The damage has already been done. The Red Sox handled their scandal a thousand times better than the Astros by simply denying, deflecting, and moving on. You don't get points from the media or the fans for admitting guilt or trying to do the right thing and firing your GM/skipper, and hiring a manager with a valuable brand name in Dusty. The intention behind his hiring seemed quaint at the time and has been annoyingly counterproductive since given the Astros are still within their contention window and need to have the best guy available in the dugout.
Still a possibility. Hinch has an out clause after this season and Houston is still home in the offseason...who the hell wants to live in Detroit during the winter.
I think what it accomplished was helping the Astros be more able to focus on playing the games than they would have with a different manager. Bakers ability to deflect tough questions (or not be asked them in the first place) made the scandal less of a distraction than it could have been. Some Hinch-lite type would have been grilled/roasted/broiled/cooked by the media and likely not have handled it as well. I agree that the Astros would have been better off with a deny/deflect approach from the beginning, but I also think that once Crane acquiesced to the demand to fire Hinch/Luhnow and the media focused their lasers, hiring Baker was the right call, just like I think replacing him this offseason with a manager who will be better at player development and in-game decision making will be the right call.
Perfect manager for their situation last season, he has helped stabilize the team through the chaos. This team is also getting out coached on most nights, and it is getting old fast. I am appreciative of all Dusty has done for the team, but he most definitely should NOT be back next season.
This is something I hadn't really thought of before. Veterans that have been together and know what it takes to win. It must be hard watching baker f it all up at times