How Jim Crane responds to this could be Astros most important moment
STONE COLD 'STROS
08 May 2024
What is Jim Crane thinking right now? Composite Getty Image.
As the Houston Astros continue to struggle through what has been a nightmare start to the season, one voice we haven't heard from in a while is club owner Jim Crane.
To be fair, Crane is under no obligation to comment on the state of the team. He has a GM and manager to address the media, and he has other business responsibilities outside of the Astros.
But we do wonder what he's thinking right now about the team's disastrous start to the season. Clearly, he can't be happy with how the club is performing on the field. But a lot of the front office decisions he approved have backfired.
And this is a year he decided to break out the checkbook and go over the luxury tax for the first time since 2020 by signing Josh Hader to a 5-year, $95 million deal. A move that has been a massive failure through the first 35 games.
Signing Hader this offseason, Jose Abreu, and Rafael Montero the previous offseason all look like misses. And even he has to acknowledge that parting ways with former GM James Click after the 2022 season may have jumpstarted the beginning of the end of the Astros dynasty (let's hope that's not the case).
If anything, we have to think he'll be gun shy about signing free agents to big deals moving forward, based on the poor results from Abreu and Hader.
And if the team continues to struggle as the trade deadline approaches, will he be open to trading some assets like Framber Valdez, Alex Bregman, or Kyle Tucker? Our guess is no, this guy has been a winner in all areas of life. He'll probably be thinking this team isn't dead yet, they are bound to turn things around based on their history (or back of the baseball card). And staying the course may end up being the correct move, only time will tell.
At the end of the day, Crane has led this organization to incredible heights, and is clearly the best owner in Houston sports history. But even he makes mistakes, and one of them appears to be listening to his baseball advisors like Jeff Bagwell and Reggie Jackson over the analytics department that this dynasty was built on.
Be sure to check out the video above for the full discussion about what Crane might be thinking right now, his role in the current state of the team, and much more.
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan every Monday on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel! We'll continue to drop more episodes throughout the week.
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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