How Hall of Fame advisors could impact the Houston Astros front office moving forward
GROUP THINK
16 November 2022
ESPN's Jeff Passan took us behind the curtains of the Houston Astros front office in an article released Tuesday morning. You can read it here: https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/stor...
Reading said piece, I was struck by a few things, like this quote which made me laugh: Though James Click wasn't indecisive, he did not preen about with what one person deemed Luhnow's “institutional arrogance,” which Jim Crane actually thought was an admirable thing.
But more than anything, the realization that Jeff Bagwell & Reggie Jackson have major roles in the Astros front office concerns me.
Crane, sources said, felt coming into the 2022 season that the team needed more “baseball men” involved in operations decisions and invited Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Reggie Jackson into the team's weekly senior baseball-operations meetings.
So why is this a concern? Having too much influence from the ex-player realm could lead to a lot of gut reaction, shoot from the hip, and “trust me, I know because I played the game” thinking. Ideally, you want to balance the former player mindset, with modern analytics because a lot of things have changed in the past 15 years. Plus, we know James Click is no longer providing that analytical feedback, and they still haven't hired a GM to replace him.
At the end of the day, what they're doing is obviously working. Hopefully, they will continue to have that balance that's made them so successful.
Be sure to check out the video above for the full breakdown.
Listen live to the Paul Gallant Show every weekday 10—noon CT on ESPN 97.5 & 92.5 Houston.
José Soriano and two relievers combined for a two-hitter and Oswald Peraza hit his first home run since a trade from the Yankees to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Soriano (10-9) allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven innings. Luis García allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his 25th save.
There were two outs in the fifth when Peraza connected off Hunter Brown (10-7) into the bullpen in right-center field to put the Angels up 1-0. His homer comes after his two-run single in the ninth inning Saturday helped Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory that snapped a three-game skid.
Yoan Moncada walked to start the eighth and scored on Mike Trout’s double that bounced off the wall in center field to make it 2-0. Taylor Ward walked before Luis Rengifo reached and Trout scored on an error by Lance McCullers Jr. when the pitcher overthrew first base.
Yordan Alvarez singled with no outs in the first and Soriano walked a batter in the second and sixth innings. The Astros didn’t get another hit until Ramón Urías doubled with one out in the eighth inning. Los Angeles outfielder Taylor Ward was injured trying to make a catch on that hit when he crashed face-first into the metal scoreboard in left field.
He was carted off the field holding a towel to the right side of his face. He was taken to a hospital by ambulance where interim manager Ray Montgomery said he would receive stitches to close the cut and be evaluated.
Brown allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings. McCullers Jr. allowed three hits and two runs in his first relief appearance since 2018.
Key moment
The home run by Peraza.
Key stat
It’s the fifth time the Astros have been shut out this month.
Up next
LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-9, 3.68 ERA) will start for Los Angeles in the series finale Monday against RHP Luis Garcia, who’ll make his return after sitting out since May 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
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