BIG DECISIONS LOOMING
Houston Astros philosophical differences have put the owner in a tough spot
Sep 15, 2022, 5:25 pm
Will Dusty Baker and Astros GM James Click be back next season? Composite image by Brandon Strange.
It appears that Astros owner Jim Crane has some decisions, really one, to make. Manager Dusty Baker’s contract is up at the end of this season. So is general manager James Click’s contract.
Baker and Click don’t seem to see eye to eye on how this team is supposed to run. Baker is old school and flies by the seat of his pants. He trusts his gut. Click is new school analytics. Numbers don’t lie. (Except they do, of course.)
We don’t know if either one is telling Crane, “Make up your mind. It’s either him or me, one of us has to go.” How’d that work out for Kevin Durant? The Astros possibilities are not endless. Either both Click and Baker stay, one or the other leaves, or they both leave.
If it does come down to one stays and one goes: who ya got?
But that’s for after this season ends. The Astros are in first place in the American League West by miles and near clinching home field advantage through the AL playoffs. The over/under for total Astros wins in 2022 was 92.5 before the season started. They’ve beaten that with weeks left on the schedule.
Who deserves the credit for the Astros amazing success since Click and Baker took over the Astros in 2020. Is it Click’s bottom line decision making or Baker’s calming influence in the clubhouse and quirky decisions on the field?
Baker is the more recognizable of the two. We see him in the dugout, in full MLB combat gear, making mincemeat of a toothpick. Baker explains his sometimes unexplainable decisions after every game. Click looks like a discount tax accountant near the front door of a Walmart. He wouldn’t say nothing if he had a mouthful of it.
It probably won’t matter if the Astros win the World Series this year. I’m thinking it’s going to be one or the other going. Baker is 73 years old, already one of the oldest managers in MLB history. Click is 44, considered one of the brightest minds in baseball, with other teams lusting after his services.
This week, sports columnist Ken Rosenthal wrote an open letter to Chicago White Sox manager Tony LaRussa, age 77, essentially saying, “you need to quit.”
Perhaps that letter should have contained “cc: Dusty Baker.”
Of course, the big difference is, LaRussa has a confrontational relationship with some of his players, plus he’s an ass. Baker is supported by the Astros players, plus he’s lovable. More important, the Astros are a juggernaut lapping the league with an owner obsessed with winning. It doesn’t seem to matter that the Astros lose key players, like Carlos Correa, Gerrit Cole and George Springer, to higher-priced bidders. The machine just reloads and heads toward the playoffs with newer and less expensive players. To the naked eye, the Astros are a model franchise, despite percolating turmoil behind the scenes.
A natural observation would be, why fix something that clearly isn’t broke? Why can’t Click and Baker just get along while the getting is good?
It doesn’t work that way. Success doesn’t keep people together. The Beatles broke up while being the biggest act in entertainment history. The Florida/Miami Marlins busted up their team after winning the World Series – twice. Who didn’t think that Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson were perfectly matched lovebirds forever?
Are the Astros piling up wins because of Baker … or despite him?
Click is tight-lipped about his relationship with Baker, but it’s easy to imagine that he, like cranky fans on Twitter, is frustrated by Baker’s constantly changing lineups and batting orders. Sometimes it’s like Baker throws nine names into a Yahtzee cup, shakes it up, and however the names come spilling out, that’s tonight’s batting order.
Click reportedly isn’t happy with which players play and which players sit. Remember, the Astros hired Baker as manager before they hired Click as general manager. Click did not pick Baker as his manager.
This week, Baker explained to the media that Yordan Alvarez was going to miss a game because of his hand injury. Alvarez, in a rare and possibly significant move, especially for a young player, gathered the media to say, “huh?”
Until season end, Crane is like the dad driving and Baker and Click are his kids fighting in the backseat. “Don’t make me come back there!”
My guess: after the World Series parade in downtown Houston, Crane will call Dusty into his office and cold-heartedly explain what needs to be done. You know, like when Michael Corleone sent Tom Hagen to convince Frank Pentangili what needed to be done in Godfather II.
Baker retires in a blaze of glory, stays on as Crane’s “special assistant,” and Click gets to pick his manager this time. And the Astros continue to dominate the American League happily ever after.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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