YOU'RE HIRED!
Here's everything you need to know about the Houston Astros new GM
Jan 26, 2023, 3:04 pm
Dana Brown is the new Astros GM. Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images.
The Houston Astros finally have their guy. Dana Brown, a long-time MLB executive, was named the franchise’s new general manager on Thursday afternoon.
Watch along as the Astros and Dana Brown officially announce his contract as the Houston Astros new General Manager. https://t.co/m9UbFInMhL
— Houston Astros (@astros) January 26, 2023
Brown has decades of experience scouting players and working in the front offices for MLB clubs. He is coming from the Atlanta Braves where he was the Vice President of Scouting since 2019. Brown primarily focused on scouting in the amateur ranks.
Before joining Atlanta, Brown spent nine seasons serving as a special assistant to the general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays. Prior to that, he was spent eight seasons as the scouting director for the Montreal Expos and Washington Nationals.
Throughout his long career, Brown has been responsible for selecting multiple players that went on to play in MLB, including Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann.
With the Braves, Brown helped in the team selecting Michael Harris II, who won the 2022 National League Rookie of the Year, right-handed pitcher Spencer Strider and infielder Vaughn Grissom. Brown also took catcher Shea Langeliers, which helped Atlanta land Matt Olson, who became a key figure in the Braves’ 2022 season.
The new Astros general manager was also a player in his own right. The 55-year-old had a stellar career with Seton Hall in the 1980s. He earned a Big East first team selection three times with the Pirates, and he helped lead Seton Hall to a 149-71-1 record in four years.
He also helped Seton Hall win a conference championship in 1987. Brown played 215 games for the Pirates, had 743 at bats and scored 207 runs. He was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 35th round of the 1989 MLB Amateur Draft.
Brown seems like a perfect fit for the Astros, who have become known for their ability to scout underrated players in their own right, such as Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia and going over a decade back, Jose Altuve.
With Houston owner Jim Crane looking to win as many championships as possible, a person that can scout and find key pieces to a championship roster is a coveted skill, which is something that Brown has demonstrated he possesses.
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Marcell Ozuna hit his major league-leading eighth homer and Orlando Arcia’s RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
It completes a three-game sweep of the struggling Astros and is Atlanta’s fourth straight victory.
The Braves scored two runs in the eighth inning to tie it at 4-4. Michael Harris II started the 10th as the automatic runner on second and there was one out in the inning when Seth Martinez (1-1) intentionally walked Matt Olson.
Ozuna lined out to right field to send Harris to third base. Arcia then singled on a ground ball to left field to score Harris and put the Braves on top.
Pinch-runner Jake Meyers was on second when Kyle Tucker walked with no outs in the 10th. Meyers moved to third on a fly out by Yainer Diaz but Jeremy Peña grounded into a double play to end it.
A.J. Minter (3-1) got the last two outs of the ninth for the win and Raisel Iglesias earned his fifth save.
Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. added his first homer of the season to help the Braves to the victory. Ozuna also leads the majors with 23 RBIs and he extended his hitting streak to 16 games, which ties his career best and is the longest active streak in the majors.
Yordan Alvarez and Mauricio Dubón both homered for the Astros, who fell to 6-14 and are last in the AL West.
There was one out in the first when Alvarez connected on his homer to the seats in left field to put Houston up 1-0.
Ozuna opened the second with his 432-foot shot to left field, which bounced off the wall and tied the game.
Acuña put the Braves up 2-1 when he sent the first pitch of the fifth inning to straightaway center field.
The Astros tied it on an RBI single by Alex Bregman in the fifth and Kyle Tucker’s RBI double came next to put the Astros up 3-2.
Dubón hit his first home run of the year off Jesse Chavez to start Houston’s sixth and push the lead to 4-2.
Harris singled to start the seventh before a ground-rule double by Austin Riley. Olson reached, and Harris scored on a fielding error by first baseman José Abreu when he couldn’t grab a routine ground ball.
There was one out in the inning when Riley scored on a sacrifice fly by Arcia to tie it at 4-all.
Houston starter J.P. France allowed four hits and two runs in five innings.
Max Fried gave up seven hits and three runs in five innings.
UP NEXT
Braves: Atlanta is off Thursday before opening a series against Texas on Friday night with LHP Chris Sale (1-1, 4.58 ERA) on the mound.
Astros: Houston is also off Thursday before ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night against Washington. The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder.