Click definitely deserves credit for this title, especially the bullpen. He did the job that was asked of him. He inherited a Ferrari and was able to replace and upgrade parts to get it to peak performance. I don't know what else would be expected of him in the position the franchise and roster was already in when he inherited it. If you dissect the bullpen. There were 4 guys that carried the load - Montero, Neris, Abreu, and Pressly. Two of those are guys Click acquired, two were guys Luhnow acquired (and one of which Click retained). If Yanier Diaz and Pedro Leon turn out to be studs in the future, those are Click acquisitions. I don't know what is on Crane's mind, all I can think of is Crane knew Click was the right guy for what the team needed for three seasons, but to extend the window, and now that free agency is a little more important than it was two seasons ago, maybe he doesn't find Click is the right guy to lead this next phase of contendership. I really don't know this whole thing is a bit weird.
Now what? James Click is out in Houston The best explanation that this writer can come up with about this move (and believe me, the Jerry Jones egotistical owner moves that tore apart a championship team come to mind) is that Jim Crane is playing the long game, and he did not see James Click in alignment with him like Jeff Luhnow was. When you look at the team under Crane/Luhnow there was a steady stream of moves that not only improved the team incrementally but they also set up the team for sustained success. He may have thought that Click was making too many moves that undercut the long-term sustainability of the team. Perhaps they did not share the same vision of the team. We may never know this, but which direction Crane goes at this time may tell us a lot. https://chipalatta.com/2022/11/11/now-what-james-click-is-out-in-houston/
Astros fire assistant general manager Scott Powers Chandler Rome, Staff writer https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...ant-general-manager-Scott-Powers-17578117.php
The Ferrari analogy is exactly right. As to what Crane is thinking, I’m reminded of something that Jeff Van Gundy said … you can’t accept something in victory that you wouldn’t accept in defeat. Flags fly forever and it’s a results business, yes that’s true. But we have heard time and again that Crane was frustrated that Click didn’t land an impact bat in FA last offseason, and Click said he wanted to wait till he trade deadline. (Maybe that’s what Click was referring to when he said Crane acts more quickly and Click deliberates more). and the Contreras for Urquidy deal that materialized at the deadline seems like an overpay. Back to the Van Gundy statement - we won a title, but it doesn’t change the facts that Click failed to get the impact bat. That is not acceptable And it nearly killed us in the playoffs. I bet our DH spot set a record for postseason futility. Someone should do some research on that. I cannot imagine a team getting less out of the DH. So I ask myself — why would Crane want Click back to handle FA and the trade deadline? To use your analogy, The team is still a Ferrari, with or without JV. We have elite SP and the bullpen, perhaps Click’s specialty, is in excellent shape with Pressly, Abreu, Neris, Stanek, Seth Martinez and possibly Hunter Brown (hopefully in the rotation though). It appears our pitching coaches are good to great, so the pitching parts aren’t the parts of the Ferrari that need replacement. The biggest priority is making big moves at 1B, LF, DH and/or C. Crane doesn’t want to worry that his GM will come back with, let’s address it at the trade deadline. We need to see about extending Framber and/or Javier if we don’t being back JV. Of course, we need to draft well and make those good trades that work the edges and provide meaningful boosts, like Toro for Graveman and Montero, straw for Maton and Diaz. Underrated trades by click that really made up for the misses on Castro and Baez,
Click declined because he has better options available. Many teams would pay for a long-term contract in order to get Click to lead their baseball ops. A 1-year contract is an insult to Click, maybe not to Baker since he's probably thinking of retiring, but it's an insult to Click when he has better options.
The only bad signing in that was Baez. Odorizzi did fine and served his role until we no longer needed him. Dubon and Goodrum cost nothing and can be ditched if they don't serve a purpose.
Perhaps the nearly kills us is an overstatement, as you note, we went 11-2. But the point stands as to the pathetic performance we got out of DH. We needed an impact bat and never got one. Could it have been Mancini? Maybe. But it wasn’t. in many ways, we got bailed out by Yuli flipping on the switch in the post season. I dont think anyone predicted that was coming. We all hoped for decent production from Yuli, but thought to be confident about that given his regular season struggles. To be clear,I thought Click’s tenure was largely a success. He made more good moves than bad ones and overall I give him a B. My broader point is that It’s not crazy for Crane to want a more decisive hand to handle the acquisition of a meaningful bat.
the two are not mutually exclusive. And an impact bat would only have increased our title odds. or did you enjoy those ABs by Mancini and Diaz?
Y'all need to let it go it I have a higher chance of winning the Powerball probably then Luhnow coming back to the Astros as GM.
Was talking about the baseball side… do you know of what issues the business side has had since the Ryan’s were let go and whether or not that was actually the wrong decision? We’ve seen what happens to all of this city’s franchises when complacency or “settling” sets in.
