Dana Brown making some changes and letting these two go.
Firkus – assistant GM overseeing player personnel, R&D, sports medicine, and performance science. Luhnow hire, been here since 2013.
Goodrum - farm director. Been here since 2021, hired by Click.
Seems like they covered areas that have been Astros’ strengths.
Also noted: Crane had just elevated Firkus to AGM last offseason after letting Click go. He and Andy Ball (who’s still here) were running baseball ops under Crane’s direction until Brown was hired.
Not totally surprising to me. Seems logical that Brown would want to hire some of his own folks and perhaps this opens up spots to do that. Also could be opening spots for those promotions that he has mentioned. The timing is surprising a little bit. Right in the middle of a playoff series seems strange but it is possible that some front office members he wants to promote are on the verge of being poached???
Yes, that is interesting. Seems to signal that Crane has given Brown the reigns.
That would be a pleasant development, imo.
Contracts usually end October 1 so timing is usual business.
To me, this says 2 things:
Dana Brown is simply bringing in his own people.
Jim Crane trusts Dana Brown to run the show and is letting him do so.
What can Brown do for you (this offseason)?
Both of those points are exactly the way it should be IMO.
New promotions, as reported by Chandler Rome:
Gavin Dickey: was Special Assistant to the GM, now Assistant GM. He started in the Astros org as an area scout in 2011 and has steadily gotten promoted under all of the Luhnow, Click, and Brown regimes.
Will Sharp: was Special Advisor to Baseball Operations, now Special Assistant to the GM. He started as an Astros area scout in 2012 and in his most recent role “focused on management of the Astros’ Major League and 40-man rosters, in-game strategy, and facilitating communication within and outside of Baseball Operations.”
Jacob Buffa: was Director, Performance Science, now Director of Player Development and Performance Science. He’s been in the org since 2019 and will apparently be taking over the duties of Sara Goodrum, who was let go last month.
How is this not Dwight Schrute
Nightengale (grain of salt) reports Brown’s preference is to promote Espada to manager. Link
Mine as well.
I’m sure that makes Brown feel better.
Heard an interesting nugget about game 5 vs Arlington, from someone who is a big fan of Dusty. Espada was the one who made the call to pinch hit Diaz & Singleton. I had assumed Dusty actually made the call. Dusty also went up to Pena after the game and told him, if he was still managing the game, he wouldn’t have taken him out. Pena replied that he would’ve pinch hit for himself too because he was hitting so terribly.
First 2 times I heard that I kinda disregarded it…the next time I took it much more seriously because of who told me…now there’s that plus this time
In real time I assumed Espada was behind it because it was so uncharacteristic of what we’ve seen Dusty do.
I think Espada would turn this roster into a 100 win team again. I hope he gets the job.
So, let me get this straight. The manager of a team playing in game five of the ALCS admits publicly that he was not managing the game? What a stunning lack of emotional intelligence.
Well he was ejected at the time.
Oh, that’s right. How quickly I forget/block that series out. I still reserve the right to be snarky and incredulous.
Does it strike anyone else as odd that Nightengale is all of a sudden all over the Astros’ moves? Makes me wonder what source is using him to get their message out, and what their endgame is.