He joins Astros front office. Maldy joins Astros front office. Castro never gets a chance to contribute. PS I would like Maldy in the Astros front office.
Pro athletes are just built different from me. If I had made over 50 million dollars with guaranteed healthcare and an awesome pension I'm spending the rest of my life chillaxing. I might go for an odd gig here or there, but sure as hell nothing that requires regular work.
I wouldn’t mind Castro in an actual front office role. He’s a smart mf. Maldy needs to be in a coaching role. Different skillsets.
Sorta discussing this in the Mary Lou retain thread... but I feel athletes (in all sports) really have a small window to guarantee future earning potential for the remainder of their lives. While those career earnings "should" set somebody up for life, we don't know the extent of their expenditures that cuts into all of that... and if no income is coming in, a 36 year old may have a certain way of living that he wants to ensure till he's at least in his 70's-80's... Whether it be commentating, front office roles, or coaching... if they don't start relatively early post-retirement, may be tough to just "pick it up" much later on. Plus, I would imagine any former player aspiring to be a GM needs to actually learn the job from the ground up... and probably needs to start soon enough to eventually reach that goal (or else yes, he's just wasting his lovely retirement years).
I was forced to retire by a big ass heart attack and have spent several years in an electric lift chair whiling away time on inter-web baseball sites. How much money I have would never stop me from working at most anything if I could. A life without an occupation is not something I would wish on anybody.
Off-topic, but I've always liked those vertical pennants that hang off the side of Fenway...would like to see something similar down Texas Avenue. Blue for league pennants...orange for championships
I am not so sure about this...... Ausmus was "smart" as well and really doesn't understand or value anything progressive in baseball and he isn't the only one. I think Maldonado would do well in coaching but I would not under-estimate Maldonado's intelligence and understanding of advanced analytics. He is close to Sarah Gelles who is in charge of the Astros R&D department, and has said before that she wants to work with him when his playing days are over. I know he is only a high school graduate - but supposedly he is bright enough.
It sounds good in theory to a lot of people, but especially for those that are not really old - the reality is different.
My comment wasn’t a dig on Maldy’s intelligence, more that he is way too good working with players to be separated from them by being up in the front office. His ability to translate analytic data just makes him an even better coach; I look at guys in player development as coaches even though I guess technically that’s a front office role. Castro would be a better GM candidate because his pedigree puts him in a better position to interface effectively with a front office/ownership landscape littered with Ivy Leaguers and billionaires. My perception of Castro is that he is not like Ausmus and is much more open to progressive thinking. Biggest evidence of that is that he was brought back to play for the Astros under their progressive regime.
I get what you’re saying but you love the game so much you want to still be a part of it. Look at how much we scrubs love the game and want to watch/talk about it.
I was thinking of Maldonado working more internally than interacting with other front office staff outside of the Astros - but that is certainly possible. Maldonado is an interesting guy. While the stuffy Ivy League types still have a big presence, it isn't quite as bad as it has been for former players and guys that frankly don't talk like or look like Theo Epstein. As for Jason Castro, I will confess that I do not know his views on the game and he could well be perfect for the position. The Astros certainly can use more intelligent people at the top with different perspectives. I would think that someone like Castro, being a former player, would appeal to someone like Dana Brown.
Hopefully Crane, Brown will hire more people like Petula/Goldstein/Campos and less people like Bagwell/Castro.
