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.
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Rockets’ defense holds, but scoring struggles lead to defeat versus Lakers
Apr 1, 2025, 8:15 am
Luka Doncic had 20 points and nine assists, and Gabe Vincent added 20 points on six 3-pointers in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 104-98 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
LeBron James finished with 16 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, who solidified their hold on fourth place in the Western Conference.
Dorian Finney-Smith also scored a season-high 20 points and hit six 3-pointers while Los Angeles sent second-place Houston to only its second loss in 14 games.
After James hit two free throws with 11.1 seconds left to put the Lakers up 102-98, he soared across the key to block Alperen Sengun's layup attempt. Dillon Brooks then missed a 3-point attempt to seal the Lakers' 29th home victory.
Amen Thompson scored 20 points and Brooks had 16 for the Rockets, who had won three straight.
The Lakers' two superstars both looked weary, and much of LA's offense consisted of Doncic and James drawing defenders before kicking to Finney-Smith and Vincent for 3-point attempts.
Neither team led by more than eight points all night, but Los Angeles nursed a small lead throughout the final 17 minutes of play.
Takeaways
Rockets: They remained defensively tenacious in the second game of a road back-to-back, but their offense was lacking. Leading scorer Jalen Green had only nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, and Sengun managed just 14.
Lakers: They sometimes looked exhausted in their 19th game in 35 days, but got the job done.
Key moment
After Brooks missed one of two free throws with 20.1 seconds left to trim Los Angeles’ lead to 100-98, the Rockets nearly tied up Finney-Smith for a jump ball — but the Lakers called a timeout first.
Key stat
Finney-Smith posted his Lakers highs in points and 3-pointers.
Up next
The Rockets host Utah on Wednesday. After their first back-to-back days off in three weeks the Lakers host Golden State on Thursday.
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