I think the opposite. It will be very hard for any manager to fail in this situation. There are absolutely no expectations of the Astros for at least a few years except to show improvement. If they improve, Porter gets credit, if they are stagnant Porter doesn't get the blame - it will probably fall on Crane for keeping a low payroll. Porter gets a tremendous opportunity to show how he can handle a young team. As long as he maintains control and respect and the players play for him, he's golden.
I'm sure if Crane was that concerned with his image he would have: a) Hired Kim Ng to be the first female GM in American professional sports (since women represent a bigger market, especially in baseball) b) Hired more Latinos (A bigger market again, especially in baseball) c) Not told reporters he didn't care what people thought of his plan because this is a private organization
it is a unique situation for porter and the young players to prove themselves together. i like what i've heard from porter, haven't watched much preseason ball though. look, fans are impatient, we will see if crane is.
For the record, I happen to agree with you about the rebuild process. Truth be told, the farm system's demise started when they let Hunsicker go and replaced him with Purpura. That was the KOD as far as the farm system was concerned. It's been downhill ever since then. At some point, you have to rebuild your farm system. Where I differ with most here is that I don't believe that this rebuild effort will be the only one needed - they may very well be rebuilding for some time (5-7 years) because based on my experience, it's much harder to rebuild in the AL than it is in the NL. And don't forget that while the ALastros are rebuilding, the other teams in the AL won't be exactly standing still. Did they pack the stadiums like a horde of rabid bunnies when the Houston teams were crappy and losing? Of course not. Hell, even the Lakers had attendance issues when the Showtime Laker era ended or the Bulls did when MJ retired. But did the Houston fans totally withdraw their support during the terrible times? Absolutely not. They still turned out year after year, bought the merchandise, etc.. I happen to think that the attendance drop was due moreso to the consistent year in - year out crappiness rather than from the actual losing itself. After awhile, the constant stupidity and ineptness of those running the Houston Pro teams has to take a toll on a fan's resolve and enthusiasm. Think about the Oilers during the 1970s and 80s when far too often, they were starring act on NFL Football Follies. Or consider the "pitching, speed and defense" Astros of the 1970s who couldn't hit a ball out of the infield let alone a home run. Or the past 18 years of the Rockets under Les Alexander where BS reigned. The Houston sports fans are great fans who desperately WANT to support their home teams and for those teams to be successful but that being said the teams must prove to be worthy of the faith and support the fans have shown to them over the decades. Crane literally came in and raised his hind leg on 50 years of baseball in Houston and that will forever damn him in my book. OK, let's say that you are right here. It would mean that Porter's job would not be evaluated on the basis of wins and losses. If so, that would be a first: a manager who is not judged on the basis of his won-loss record. Now that's going to be something to see - especially if they suck for the next 3-5 years. You pointed out that they fired Mills because they wanted to bring their own victim, er, manager which certainly doesn't earn them any kudos in my book. I stand by my position here: Porter will eventually have to own up to his record and if it's really bad, he will be toast. There was truth in what Gammons said particularly about them deliberately fielding an uncompetitive team how that will affect the competitive balance in the AL West. It's not that I care but more that I'm still angry at that b*stard Crane for what he's done. I'm particularly insulted at how he and the ALastros casually dismissed all of those fans who were lifelong Astros fans though thick and thin for 50 years. Houston sports fans deserve better than what they've had to live with: Bud Adams, John McMullen and now Jim Crane. AND, they are no longer the Astros. the Astros were the National League team I grew up following as a fan. The ALastros are a team for which Crane took a $65M kickback to move to the AL West.
so, you were basically ready to hate whoever was forced to move the Astros to the AL. What if Crane turned down 65M and then some owner accepted 100M? Or some other owner accepted 5M? And still made the move...would you hate that owner? Love Crane for turning down the deal but losing on his opportunity? It seems like your pre-determined hatred based on the move is coloring your opinions of all moves following
Who was being sarcastic? Crane's shown he doesn't cave to outside pressure. In fact, he is defiant. He will do things his way. If you don't like it, Jim Crane doesn't care.
Building a winning organization > Attempting to appease a very small segment of the fan base When it comes to making money.
i agree. look we can go round and round, i have my opinion and its just an opinion not a critique because i like what little i've seen of porter so far.
The main reason I don't believe that, is Jim Crane is too damn competitive. He has to prove he's better than everyone else. I like his arrogance.
It looks like he's building a winning oginization but it's not hard to build a bad team, draft high and call you fans out as noting more than an opinionated bunch that have no say. Nothing had about that. His intentions became as plain as day when he put up that garbage strucker over left field. He's in this first and formost to make money for he and his partners. Hope and pray he continues to "build" the club when those prospects start asking for contract extentions.
Has to be the same guy, cause no way there are two people that stuck on refusing to call the Astros the Astros
I totally agree with this, but bobrek, you aren't looking at this wanting a racist tone to it. If someone wants to see racism, they can find it
Actually the Bulls were selling out games for years after MJ retired. Their attendance never really slipped from when MJ was playing and today. Chicago could easily support a second basketball franchise. Of course Chicago does have bizarre fans considering they'll support the Cubs, but not the White Sox.
The Bulls are by far the 4th most popular team in Chicago (right now 5th) and a very easy ticket to get. The Bears and Cubs are hard to get, everyone else is just a matter of showing up.
Based on what? He has already hired more qualified coach and front office folks than Sterling ever has.
