EVERY-THING SPORTS
Dirty laundry aside, there's no denying who's running the show in Houston
Nov 16, 2022, 3:57 pm
It's his way or the highway. Composite image by Brandon Strange.
bench astros (1)
Looking back on the 2022 Astros’ season, most will have fond memories of how it ended: a World Series win to prove the haters and doubters wrong. This win secured a legacy or dynasty for the team. It validated the 2017 title by erasing the cloud of suspicion that the sole reason they won in 2017 was by cheating. The tinfoil hat wearing crowd can suck it! This team won fair and square!
While there are plenty of things to remember about this past season, one of the things that I’ll remember about is that Jim Crane carries the biggest stick on Crawford Street. Don’t believe me? Ask James Click. Hell, ask anyone in that organization. They’ll gladly tell you who’s in charge and who has final say on major decisions.
After the sign stealing scandal and its subsequent fallout/punishments were handed down, Crane took a more hands-on approach. He hired Dusty Baker as manager. This move was seen as bringing in an old school baseball guy who’s known to be a players’ manager. He then hired Click to be his general manager. Click came from Tampa Bay where their philosophy is low and slow when it comes to building a winner.
Click’s low and slow approach (coupled with analytics), didn’t always jive with Dusty’s old school ways. However, when Crane wanted to make splash moves, Click resisted. That is where the rift began. That’s also where Click sealed his fate as Astros’ GM.
When the boss whose name appears on your paycheck stub says he wants something done, the smart thing would be to make it happen. Unless there’s a danger to your life or the organization, you do what you’re told to do. Click chose to remain steadfast in his ways. Nothing wrong with building through the draft, making small trades, keeping payroll down, and using/relying on analytics. Those moves are good for building a team into a winner. The Astros were built to win already. Crane wanted Click to make moves he felt would keep the winning going immediately. Click wanted to make moves he felt had long-term sustainability. In the end, the man who has the billions won the pissing match over the guy who works for him.
Michael Schwab reported this rift in detail on November 13. He outlined the exact instances in which he believed Click earned his exit from the franchise. I’m of the opinion Click thought he was trying to help Crane, but Crane didn’t want him to help by telling him what he should do. Crane wanted Click to help by doing what Crane ordered him to do. When Click realized Crane wasn’t going to listen, he started leaking things to the media. Of course, we may never know the true extent of how dirty the laundry really is, but we see the pile.
Houston #Astros GM James Click actually was fired. He was offered a one-year contract and raise from his $1 million salary on Monday, turned it down in pursuit of a longer contract, and was dismissed Friday after publicly airing his grievances at the GM meetings.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 11, 2022
It's looking like Crane will now have a GM by committee this season. His hope will be to land David Stearns. He’s the boy wonder from the Jeff Luhnow tree that Crane has his eyes on, but the Brewers are making him honor the last year of his contract. Another report Schwab put out there was that Crane has possibly been in contact with former manager A.J. Hinch to come aboard as GM. THAT would be an interesting turn of events! ESPN 97.5’s Joel Blank and Paul Gallant did a video with an intriguing look at the next GM. Buckle up folks! This could be eventful!
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.