This is more Tom and Giselle. Itâs been coming for some time.
If anyone was wondering, here is Andrew Ballâs Linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewball2/
And here is Bil Firkusâs Linkedin page:https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdfirkus/
More news in the shuffle:
Jim Crane is no longer (merely) a âhands-onâ owner, he is arguably the most hands-on baseball owner since George Steinbrenner. Itâs great for us as fans, honestly, since Crane has no time for any BS, including pabulum the media regurgitates daily. On the same day Crane fired Click for not accepting 1yr@$1.0m and having recently provocatively suggested Crane was not in it for the long term, Crane gave a set-up man 3yr@$11.5m. This was an amazing âFUâ. Crane did the same thing to Carlos Correa who had become, sadly, a whiny bore. In theory, this is a âfor better or worseâ situation, 50/50, but Crane has tremendous credibility in terms of the odds being in his favor and thus in our favor. I hope none here seek any confirmation from the NY-centric media who do nothing more than regurgitate politically motivate talking-points. The Astros do not GAF (see Dusty Baker on the field in the moment all-but ignoring Buster Olney) and we should not either.
Agree on all counts, thanks for the insight
Tell me what you believe to be âpolitically motivated talking pointsâ.
James Click wanted to open our borders to foreign pitching
âThatâs not baseballâ when Maldonado crowded the plate, when it was absolutely baseball. The game is a violent one and is played by very tough (and ornery) players. The revisionists want it to end up with a âparticipation trophy.â Tell that to Bryce Harper who has $300m in the bank and still hit that HR against SD. These are warriors. Anyway, apology for adding in a phrase that can trigger.
Only triggers the would-be comedians. I do not think any baseball player is a âwarrior,â but what Maldonado did certainly was smart baseball. Props to Smoltz for telling his audience there is nothing at all wrong about crowding the plate and daring the pitcher to keep throwing the sinker inside. Machete did NOT lean into the pitch.
I canât speak for Orange_Fire as to what he means by âpolitically motivatedâ, but it is clear to me that Rosenthal in his various pieces for the Athletic is still grinding the same axe.
His most recent hit piece basically says that Crane was responsible for the win at all cost ethos that led to Luhnow et al, and that his treatment of Click is another manifestation of Craneâs win at all cost (ânever satisfiedâ) attitude. He thinks Crane is âdiminishing [the Astros] standingâ in the sport and posits that no one will want to work for Crane. I wonât bother linking that pile of dung here, but I see it as a clearly political (but not in govt sense) piece that wants to continue to tar the Astros as long as Crane owns the team.
As Coach has pointed out, none of us really knows what underlies the rift and, as the owner, Crane gets to make the call. I am grateful to Crane for what he has done since buying the team, and to Click for his contributions the last three years. I do worry about the possibilty of a Jerry Jones effect, but not the crap that Rosenthal is spewing. Nothing in what Crane has done would make me think he does not already have a succession plan in place (that Oklahoman piece by Nightingale makes more sense to me). Iâm just happy to be along for the ride and keeping my fingers crossed for the GM equivalent of Pena.
Stephanie Apstein from SI was very much the same in an article I read a week or so ago.
I read that Rosenthal piece. Fuck him.
As I said yesterday ad nauseam, nothing Crane has done so far is remotely close to Jerry Jones. IMO, of course.
Attention, attention. All Astros fans.
The only similarity between Jim Crane and Jerry Jones is they are both rich men who own a sports team.
And Crane knows how to win championships.
That was an impressively terrible piece. Thought about posting it here, then thought âwhy?â
A retired sportswriter I read on occasion brainstormed Hinch for GM, which is an idea. Crane could consider this?
If this were the WWE Crane would introduce Taubman as the new GM.
Then heâd peel back the latex mask to reveal that he is actually Jeff Lunhow.
(Ok a combo of WWE and Scooby Doo)
No shock there. Sheâs the one that ran the original article on the BrandonTaubman/Alyson Footer incident after the 2019 ALCS. Let the butthurt flow through her and Rosenthal.