REID RYAN SPEAKS
Astros president Reid Ryan reveals rare behind-the-scenes view of World Series winners
Steven Devadanam
May 21, 2018, 10:49 am
Reid Ryan (center) offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Houston Astros. J. Thomas Ford
Steven Devadanam is editor of CultureMap/Houston. This article originally appeared there.
Is Justin Verlander headed to the Hall of Fame? Will Jose Altuve break Pete Rose’s record? And will the Houston Astros get back to the World Series?
These were the burning questions on the minds of a select group of guests at a recent panel discussion featuring Astros vice president of business operations Reid Ryan. The son of Texas legend Nolan Ryan (Reid was actually once a young batboy for the Astros when his father played in the Astrodome), Reid Ryan is one of Major League Baseball’s youngest executives. He is widely credited for spearheading one of the best fan experiences in baseball.
As the founder and CEO of both the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Round Rock Express minor league franchises, Ryan was lauded for running two of the top franchises in minor league attendance, stadium satisfaction and franchise value. Now celebrating his fifth year as Astros president, Ryan was frank about the team’s never settle attitude as he chatted with ESPN 97.5 host John Granato in a talk at the Houston Country Club that was sponsored by Park Towers and TPMC Realty Corporation, and Gow Media.
“We know we’re not a perfect team — we weren’t a perfect team last year,” Ryan told the audience. “We could’ve easily lost to the Red Sox, that was a heck of a series. We could’ve easily lost to the Dodgers. But we found a way to win.”
As a regular presence at team events, Ryan says fan excitement is at a fever pitch after a World Series win. “With this young team, everybody sees that we’re going to be together for at least a couple more years. They see that we’ve locked Altuve up and we’ve made some moves. We feel like we’re in a great spot. But you’re not gonna see us stand still,” he promised.
Ryan offered a rare glimpse into the off-the-diamond challenges facing the team, such as how the Astros compete with the big markets like Los Angeles and New York. Breaking down the financial elements of the major leagues, Ryan cited “three pots” of money available to teams, the first being national money that all MLB teams split, such as jersey sales, the MLB app, XM radio and other packages. “All that money is shared,” Ryan explained. He added that individual teams keep what they create at the respective ballparks, and finally, they generate revenue via local media rights.
The Astros president pointed out a wide chasm in resources: The Astros have a budget of $30 million less than their peers in the American West division and more than $100 million less than “the big boys” in baseball.
“So we have to be really good at creating a great experience at the ballpark,” he said, “and making sure that we’re priced appropriately, and making sure that every dollar that someone is paying to go to an Astros game is being funneled back into the players’ payroll.”
He acknowledged that those financial challenges become more apparent when renegotiating player contracts. “If it comes down to money, and someone wants more money, there’s a chance they can go somewhere else,” he noted. “Jose Altuve could’ve gotten more somewhere else, but he loves this organization and Houston. So we hope we can do that with some of the other guys.”
Ryan added that while the team does its best to provide GM (and metrics whiz) Jeff Luhnow an ample budget, the team won’t break the bank: “We’re not the team that’s going to go out and overspend in free agency,” Ryan added. “We’re the team that’s going to draft and grow from within.”
Talk then turned to stars Verlander and Altuve. Ryan pointed out that Verlander, who now has his 2,500 strikeouts and 200 wins, has an incentive to stay with a contending team and earn another World Series ring — and possibly a Hall of Fame induction.
And Altuve, who his current age of 28 has more hits than Rose, has a chance to break Pete Rose’s batting record, according to Ryan. He promised the crowd that the Astros are ready for the long part of the season. “We’re in the marathon business right now. We can beat you with starting pitching, home runs, steals, defense, and good relief pitching. This club has a lot of flexibility,” he said.
He echoed the popular #NeverSettle team slogan in closing, which starts with owner Jim Crane. “Jim Crane is not satisfied with us having a good team, he wants us to have a great team,” said Ryan. “The ownership group is committed to building something we can sustain for a long time.”
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
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