I have been pretty strong in my opinion that there’s no way Luhnow would return to baseball much less the Astros, and I still would bet pretty heavily against it because it’s just really really hard for me to believe there isn’t still substantial bad blood between Crane and Luhnow. But it appears Luhnow still follows baseball, and at a minimum doesn’t have bad blood toward the Astros in general. And every other person involved in the sign stealing scandal has returned to the game (if they wanted to). So maybe there’s a chance. It would certainly be a story if Click was let go to bring back Luhnow.
I can't see the guy who brought in Dusty Baker to clean up the Astros' image making that kind of move, although it would be hilarious to see the media and fans have fits over it.
I would absolutely love if Luhnow was brought back. I have a hard time believing it would happen though.
Lunhow is in the soccer business now. Obviously things can change but he’s got no interest in coming back to baseball. It’d be amazing to have him back though.
There is zero doubt that Jeff would come back if afforded the opportunity. This is still, almost completely, his team.
Pitchers Montero Stanek Pressly Position Players Vasquez Dubon Mancini These appear to be the only players on the ALDS Roster who were not drafted or traded for by Lunhow. Jeff Lunhow has been gone for 3 seasons and is still responsible for 77% of the players on this roster.
I would say that Click has as much of a footprint on this team as Luhnow. Abreu is the only bullpen arm on the current roster that Luhnow can take sole credit for. Pressly was signed to an extension when he would be a FA. Stanek, Neris, and Montero ( plus Maton and Smith) were brought in. Hunter Brown was developed from a marginal prospect since Click took over. Gurriel, Maldy, ( Castro and Brantley) were FA and signed/resigned by Click. Vazquez, Dubin, and Mancini Click traded for. Meyers, McCormick, Hensley, and even Pena were non prospects or marginal prospects who developed and became much more valuable than expected under Click's Organization That's 14 of current 26.
I’ll 100% give you the bullpen Clicks biggest move though has been locking up Alvarez to that longterm deal. So I’ll Lunhow and Click share that one!
Locking up Yordan was great for Click. He may never have to buy his own drinks in Houston for years, lol. But that didn't impact the current team at all.
What about him? I think Atluve might have been found by Tim Purpura or Ed Wade. Definitely not Lunhow or Click.
Click's best moves are re-signing Verlander, extending Alvarez, and the moves he didn't make. There is almost no chance the Astros wouldn't have traded away someone from the farm that has been good with almost any GM other than Click. Click may lose his job because he believes in this team.
You listed players that weren't traded for or drafted by Luhnow (i'm assuming not signed as an IFA as welll). Altuve belongs on that list.
Aside from trading for Vazquez/Mancini and acquiring Dubon for nothing, Click has: Resigned Maldonado and Gurriel Bet on Pena Bet on Chas and Meyers Bet on Hensley Extended Yordan Resigned Verlander Bet on Hunter Brown Signed Stanek Extended Pressly Extended McCullers Traded for Montero Signed Neris Chose the pitching coaches when Strom left Click’s fingerprints are all over this playoff roster and last night’s win. He put pen to paper on 10 of the 14 position players on the playoff roster and 7 of the 12 pitchers. And even the guys he purely inherited many GMs wouldn’t have kept; he easily could have shipped out Javier or Garcia or Urquidy or Abreu or Framber before they blossomed. Being smart enough to not overhaul the roster and bet on the right prospects is huge. Click has been an extremely good GM so far and if he and the Astros part ways then I think Click will find another GM job very quickly. In fact, the only guys Click can’t really claim any measure of responsibility for are Altuve, Bregman, Tucker, and Aledmys Diaz.
Correct. Click could have made a bunch of trades and reshaped the roster, and people would applaud him for the team being a 99-win team with less of a chance to win the World Series (or they would have hated him for trading away good players). Granted, most of the value that he used in those trades would have been obtained by Luhnow. No matter what Click did, the majority of the value of the team would have resulted from value that Luhnow had initially obtained. Trusting this team was the right decision.
