FOOD FIGHT!

How MLB stacked the deck against Astros in latest off-field competition

Astros Carlos Correa, Rob Manfred, Yankees Aaron Judge
There has to be a better way. Composite photo by Jack Brame.

This is the final week to vote in Major League Baseball's official 2021 "Food Fight," where fans get to pick which big league team has the best ballpark eats.

This is such a tricky, confusing and, I'll say it downright unfair, poll that Arizona may be auditing the results for the next 10 years.

Here's how it works: click on mlb.com/foodfight. You'll find a smorgasbord of outlandish concession items from all the Major League stadiums locked in March Madness-style brackets. Because there are 15 ballparks on each side of the brackets, two teams, the Astros and Angels, earned free passes into the second round.

Here are some of the contenders: Cold Lobster Roll (Red Sox), Seared Sockeye Salmon Sandwich (Mariners), Beer Braised Short Rib Grilled Cheese (Rays), Burgundy Pepper Tri Tip Nachos (Padres), Ghiradelli World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae (Giants) and Lobel's Steak Sandwich (Yankees).

Astros Cowboy Fry. Photo via: Mat Drain.

Minute Maid Park is represented by a new item called Astros Cowboy Fry – a big ol' platter of fresh-cut French fries topped with queso blanco, chopped brisket, jalapeno ranch and green onions with a drizzle of BBQ sauce. Astros Cowboy Fry is available at Texans Legends Grills behind Sections 134 and 231 and costs $13.99.

Here's where I'm yelling "Stop the Steal." Astros Cowboy Fry is essentially a cranked-up side dish. How can it compete with a Lobel's Steak Sandwich or Cold Lobster Roll or Seared Sockeye Salmon Sandwich? I can't stop thinking how amazing the Ghiradelli World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae must be, especially with the Giants in the NL West hunt. The hot fudge is handmade in the ballpark using Ghiradelli chocolate. That's the good stuff.

Here's another monkey wrench in MLB's Food Fight. Since many of the nominated items are new this year, some ballparks will be handicapped by COVID-induced crowd limitations. Meanwhile, other stadiums, like Globe Life Field in Arlington and (starting tonight) Minute Maid Park are allowed full capacity of fans. More fans, more trying the new items.

But my biggest issue is, Astros Cowboy Fry isn't the best thing available at Minute Maid Park. To be honest, I didn't even know it existed, and Astros food is my beat. I'm still hung up on a certain New York-style hot dog with sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard, can't remember the cool name they call it.

The MLB site says "all 30 teams put up their ballpark's signature food item." So I asked Mat Drain, the Doyen of Dijon for ARAMARK, which runs all the food concessions at Minute Maid Park, why would you pick Astros Cowboy Fry as our representative?

He said, "I didn't." It seems that whoever's running the election at MLB.com (possibly a Yankees fan) did the choosing. If that's the case, having a Yankees fan pick the nominee from Houston is like the Republicans picking the Democrats' candidate for president. There's beef between Yankee and Astros fans, and I ain't talking about a Nolan Ryan all-beef hot dog.

Drain, the ARAMARK boss for all of Texas and Louisiana, said he would have gone with the simple, yet so elegant, baked potato topped with brisket, butter, sour cream, grated cheese and green onions to represent Minute Maid Park. They're huge and they're spectacular. Just some advice, you might want to share one of these. Otherwise rising for the seventh inning stretch could be, well, a stretch.

Drain said Astros fans are showing up and chowing down at Minute Maid this year like COVID 2020 never existed. In fact, sales of Dollar Dogs on Tuesday nights are up. Hey, it's Tuesday! And the red hot Dodgers are in town and Clayton Kershaw is starting against the Astros. Let's do this.

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Is leadership the main problem for Houston? Composite Getty Image.

With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.

While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.

Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.

And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.

The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.

It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.

Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.

The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.

They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.

Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.

Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?

As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.

The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?

Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!

Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.

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