Front Office Rewind
Here are the ways Astros not-so-quietly walking back Dusty Baker's decisions
Dec 12, 2023, 12:34 pm
Front Office Rewind
Astros pitchers and catchers will report to spring training in only two months. Time sure does fly when you’re wiping a bad taste from your mouth.
In the Astros case, not making the World Series, and watching the Texas Rangers win the title, still is hard to swallow.
When the umpire shouts “Play Ball” for the 2024 season, one thing will be loud and clear – this is general manager Dana Brown’s team. There will be changes, ones that will please most Astros fans. No longer will Brown have to grit his teeth and shrug “Dusty makes the lineup.”
From the moment former manager Dusty Baker “resigned” back in October, Brown has been undoing Baker’s vision of the Astros – and Brown isn’t even pretending that’s not what he’s doing. He’s done seething afternoons when Baker announced his starting lineup with Martin Maldonado catching and batting ninth. He’s finished shaking his head when Maldonado came to the plate in late innings of a close game and strikes out with runners on base. He had it up to here seeing Chas McCormick’s butt on the bench during critical games down the stretch.
Listen to Brown shout it from the mountains that McCormick will be a fixture in the Astros lineup henceforth (awesome word).
“Chas McCormick will play every day, splitting time between left field and center field,” Brown told Astros writer Brian McTaggert. Brown added, “McCormick is going to be out there.”
Remember how Baker exiled Jake Meyers to baseball Siberia in late 2023 and left him off the Astros ALCS roster? And if new manager Joe Espada thought there would be open competition for the starting center field job, well, let’s just say that Brown isn’t tip-toeing around Espada like he did with Dusty Baker.
Brown says, “We’re going to give Meyers a chance to play every day. Meyers is a really good defender. Hopefully we can make some adjustments with the bat, but we’re going to give him a chance to play. The defense is really special. If you can prevent runs, that’s a big part of winning.”
Espada won’t gripe too much about Brown's authority over personnel choices. Espada probably has Brown to thank for getting him the manager’s job.
When the Astros began searching for a new manager to replace Dusty Baker, there was curiosity about who had more influence in the organization. Would Brown get to pick the new field boss, or would it be owner-whisperer Jeff Bagwell calling the shot?
Brown wanted Espada and got his man.
Now, as Maury Povich might put it, “in the matter of Martin Maldonado – you are NOT the Astros catcher next season!”
For all the wishful chatter you heard about the Astros bringing back free agent Maldonado, it was never going to happen. Brown didn’t need any help from anguished fans pleading for the Astros to play talented rookie Yanier Diaz instead of Maldonado last season.
To drive that point home, Brown is making sure that new manager Espada won’t have the chance to do a Dusty and put Maldonado behind the plate.
Baker had barely cleaned out his office when Brown announced, “Diaz is going to be the main guy next year. We’re going to have to get a backup guy for Diaz.”
It won’t be Maldonado, who still is available on the free agent market. Hard pass. Instead, Brown went out and signed veteran Victor Caratini to be the Astros second string catcher. Caratini’s contract is for two years and $12 million, probably twice what it would have taken to keep Maldonado.
Fred VanVleet scored 37 points and the surging Houston Rockets won their ninth straight, beating the Miami Heat 102-98 Friday night.
VanVleet shot 13 for 17 from the field and made a season-high 9 of 11 3-pointers as the Rockets extended the league’s longest active winning streak. Houston also snapped a nine-game skid against Miami, which lost its 10th straight. It is the Heat’s longest skid since they lost 11th straight in 2007-08.
Amen Thompson returned after missing the last six games because of a sprained left ankle and finished with 18 points and seven steals while Dillon Brooks and Jabari Smith each added 11 points for the Rockets.
Houston rallied from an 11-point deficit early in the third quarter and got to 80-78 on Jalen Green’s jumper to close the period.
Miami’s Andrew Wiggins scored 30 points, his highest total since the Heat acquired him from Golden State for Jimmy Butler on Feb. 6. Kel’el Ware had 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Bam Adebayo also scored 16 points for the Heat.
Rockets: Houston remained second in the Western Conference.
Heat: Miami squandered its 20th double digit lead that led to a loss. Wiggins’ jump shot two minutes into the third period put the Heat ahead 65-54 before Houston rallied.
VanVleet went on a personal 9-2 run to start the fourth that put the Rockets ahead for good. He hit two 3-pointers, a lay-up and made 1 of 2 free throws that gave Houston an 87-84 lead.
The Rockets outrebounded the Heat 46-34 for their eighth consecutive game of winning the rebounding edge against their opponent.
Rockets host Denver on Sunday, and Heat host Charlotte.