(Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (L) & former Astros GM Dana Brown (R) when they were hired in November 2023)
The Houston Astros enter tonight tied for first place in the AL West with the Texas Rangers.
First place or not, as of today, the Astros no longer have a GM, and their manager will step down at the end of the 2026 season.
The Astros began the day by parting ways with GM Dana Brown. They nearly did the same with manager Joe Espada but he was given the option of remaining as manager for the rest of this season which he accepted.
Despite being tied atop the AL West, the Astros do have a losing record of 65-66. Up until recently, however, the Astros had played well. After being swept by the Baltimore Orioles after the All-Star Break, Houston would win 11 of their next 12 games. Between July 20th and August 14th, the Astros went 16-6. As of 10 days ago, the Astros were 63-60 and had a 3-game lead in the AL West.
However, since August 14th, the Astros have lost 6 of their last 8 games falling to inferior AL West rivals such as the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels and the Athletics. Yesterday, the Astros had a 6-0 lead on the Athletics and lost the game 7-6. The Astros are off today and head to New York for a six-game road trip against both the Yankees and the Mets.
It sounds to me like Astros owner Jim Crane was looking for a reason, any reason, to dump both Brown and Espada. The question is what is it that would satisfy Crane?
Let us remember that after the Astros won the World Series in 2022, Crane fired both GM James Click and Assistant GM Scott Powers. If winning a World Series isn't enough to satisfy Crane, then I think he is in the wrong line of business.
Click would hook on with the Toronto Blue Jays as their VP of Baseball Strategy prior to the 2023 season and would return to the Fall Classic last year. The Blue Jays didn't fire Click after the team didn't prevail against the Dodgers. As for Powers, he decided to go into academia and accepted a position at Rice University in their Department of Sport Management.
Espada had the unenviable task of succeeding future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker prior to the 2024 season. The Astros would start out slow in 2024, By mid-July the Astros were atop the AL West and would win the division although they would be ousted by the Detroit Tigers in the AL Wild Card round led by former Astros skipper A.J. Hinch.
In 2025, the Astros missed the post-season on a technicality. The Astros and Tigers had identical 87-75 but Detroit got to play October baseball and Houston didn't because the Tigers had won the regular season series. It antithetical to the spirit of competition and one of the reasons I have soured on baseball.
The best-case scenario for Joe Espada is if the team rallies around him. Despite Crane's history of firing personnel despite winning the World Series, it is one thing to fire a member of the front office it is another to fire the public face of the organization. If the Astros were to win the World Series under Espada, there would be public calls for Crane to allow him to remain skipper.
Not that Crane would listen. But if he let Espada walk after winning the World Series, Crane would be the most hated man in MLB while other big-league teams would offer Espada a chance to manage their team. That is assuming there is no prolonged lockout by Crane and the other owners. Of all 30 MLB teams, I think the Astros would probably be the worst place to work given Crane's mercurial disposition.
Yet over the next month or so, the Houston Astros have a chance of becoming the most interesting team in all of baseball. Perhaps this time for a good reason.
No comments:
Post a Comment