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Texans tab familiar face Gaine as new GM, working on O'Brien extension
Jan 10, 2018, 8:16 pm
Brian Gaine will return to the Texans. Buffalobills.com
The Texans have reportedly settled on Brian Gaine as their new general manager, replacing Rick Smith. Gaine was hired away from the Texans last year, joining the Buffalo Bills as Vice President of Player personnel. Prior to that, Gaine spent three years with the Texans as director of player personnel.
Gaine also served as assistant general manager with the Miami Dolphins. He reportedly has a good working relationship with head coach Bill O'Brien. Gaine replaces Smith, who took a leave of absence to care for his ailing wife. Smith will likely return at some point, but in another role if Gaine is successful.
Gaine is a respected personnel man who has interviewed for several GM jobs in recent years. O'Brien, who is apparently close to a contract extension, will likely have more say on player acquisition as part of his deal. He has not earned it, but the reportedly "toxic" relationship with Smith will no longer be an excuse.
Gaine inherits a roster that when healthy should be competitive. The return of J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus should boost the defense, and Deshaun Watson appears to be a franchise quarterback in the making. However, he will need to rebuild a terrible offensive line and boost a shaky secondary, all without a first or second round pick. However, the team has significant cap room to make a splash in free agency.
Meanwhile, the team is working on extension for O'Brien. He has several staff positions to fill, and really needs to consider a new defensive coordinator.
But he at least has a new GM to work with. One he already knew.
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?