Maybe... but I have a feeling the teams that are looking/able to trade prospects for those potential upgrades have GM's that are just as smart (if not smarter) than him. And there's the usual limited willingness to give up any true superstar prospects vs. guys who are older/MLB ready, plus what is Brown more focused on (building the farm or improving the current roster... which will be tied more into whether or not he keeps his job). And that's why you may not want to entrust hot-seat GM's with those tasks... because there has to be some bias/leaning towards them trying to save their own livelihoods. Them obtaining low level prospects with huge upsides will only benefit their eventual replacements, not themselves. And from what's been mentioned more than not is that Brown (and Espada) aren't going to be overseeing any long-term rebuilds here. If this season continues to trend as it is, I don't see them being here next year (let alone lasting the rest of this season).
It was a salary dump. I guess it's that time of the year where people complain about the 23-26th men on the roster.
Why is it that fans only look at hitting? While I admit that I am no Nick Allen fan, I try to not let my biases rule my takes. I also admit the return pissed me off at first. 1) The team has no AAA level SS capable of backing up Pena in the event of an injury. Correa can fill in but ideally that is kept to a minimum and short stints. 2) If Altuve is your everyday 2B, then it is a huge advantage to have a good glove caliber defensive replacement to help get him some innings off the field. 3) Dubon's projected arbitration salary left very little surplus value. Getting a player with genuine and proven MLB talent who fits a need is way better than some random lottery ticket.
Is it possible that Murphy was actually "the guy" and we kept the wrong one? It's surreal seeing the pitching staff perform so poorly in what was considered the Astros biggest organizational strength...elevating poor pitchers into serviceable ones, serviceable ones into good ones, and good ones into great ones. Seeing an elite pitcher like Abreu self destruct is just so uncharacteristic for this club. Espada has never looked confident or competent since day one. He actively has harmed the team by overusing Hader and exhausting Brown early in the season. There's been no improvement. Brown had an offseason from hell. Burrows has been crap, his only value is he goes 5 innings. Brown also looks unprepared as hell when it comes to signing a Japanese pitcher. He's on his third interpreter and is basically taking a mental break after three starts. Brown either didn't scout Imai's mental fortitude correctly, or failed to know how to handle that type of asset. And $5M saved looks like nothing when you see what Dubon is doing so far this year. Brown's pride and joy in his first draft pick, Brice Matthews, is ass. Barring a hot streak, both Espada and Brown get canned on the same day, a la Purpura/Garner.
It’s a small sample, but Brown appears to have fared pretty well in the Tucker trade; that wasn’t a pure rebuild trade but it was a sell-side trade that focused on long term over short term. Browns rushing of Smith may lend credence to the idea that he lacks job security, but I also think it shows some evidence that Crane will let Brown make those kinds of trades and that Brown can execute them. Ed Wade was allowed to trade Pence, Bourn, and Oswalt before Luhnow was hired. It’s fairly common for GMs to make rebuild trades before they were fired. Brown has incentive to do well in those trades because owners will be looking at the outcome of those when he tries to get his next job (either as a GM or scouting director). The loss of value from hanging on to guys waiting on the next GM to trade them is probably greater than the risk of the current GM botching the trades.
2 questions. Will Espada survive until the end of the month? Will Dana Brown survive the offseason? If the slide continues into next week I can see Crane firing Espada. I think Dana Brown is as good as gone after the season. I’d love to see them both gone today, but I know they aren’t going to fire both of them mid season.
But Wade didn't get much for those guys and that was also before Crane assuming control. And Wade traded for guys who were somewhat close to being MLB ready, not really jump-starting anything, sort of proving the case as to what will likely happen here. Brown (or anybody who wants to continue to be considered for MLB GM jobs) are basically judged by his MLB record and will make moves to try and further that... or you have to do what Click is currently doing and take a secondary role before somebody hires you for the head role again. The established MLB GM's/heads of baseball ops that get recycled (the Wade's, Dombrowski's, Epstein's, Anthopolpous') had to have that sort of success to put them in the longevity/"i'll pick my next job" category. Brown is nowhere near that and I fully expect him to do whatever it takes to save face. All that being said, I also could see Crane being smart enough to know that and he takes those decisions from him (or hires some other scouting director to take the job now)... which will basically mitigate any advantage the Astros have by having Brown's scouting expertise (unless they just take all Brown's notes/data and use it... presuming he has those sort of proprietary info that belongs solely to the Astros).
The Javier extension will probably be one of the main inflection points in the Brown era when looked back on. The front office in 2020-2021 had enough concerns about his arm's ability to tolerate an every 4th day starting role. It was a low-hanging fruit extension that Javier's camp didn't think twice about (compared to every other promoted pitcher with similar initial success and what they hold out for... see Hunter Brown). Brown can nail all the draft picks or have the minor league system humming... but that could also be designated as the responsibility of a scouting director or the head of minor league development. Failed big league signings/extensions, questionable trades, poor asset allocation, and questionable FA acquisitions (or lack of being able to fill majorholes via all the above means) are what get GM's fired
This Orgs behind the scene guys has been picked apart from our winning rebuild. We are in trouble for a few year's.
As far as I am concerned, the season hasn't started yet. When they get a "team" assembled, I will start watching.
Its more a referendum of the upper minor league system depth currently... that they have to go bargain basement shopping like this. Also Dana Brown needs the MLB team to do better to save his job (or help him land his next job), so if he doesn't trust or rely on the current system's products for future injury replacements, he's going after other castoffs (even though he is technically responsible for it all...)
I can see a scenario where Espada is let go during the season (could be the first manager fired this season), but Brown is retained. My reasoning behind this is that the Astros have more picks and draft pool money than they have in many years. Brown is known for his scouting background and can do a lot with six picks in the top 150, four in the top 100. IMO Brown can draft some really good players to continue building the farm. Ideally, the Astros will come around and we don’t have to worry about personnel getting fired, but I’m not holding my breath about it.
Odds of being fired: Espada: Before June: 30% Before the trade deadline: 40% After the season: 70% Dana Brown: Before June: 1% Before the trade deadline: 1% After the season: 50%
Brown may take the blame for the Javier extension… just like people blamed Click for the LMC extension… but Crane wanted both of them extended because the numbers were bearable. I have no idea if Brown is a good GM, but I’m not blaming him for Javier.
