That’s harsh.
Yep, I did that bundle a while back.
Here’s an idea I could get behind.
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Works for me.
Hinch for GM? Ausmus for GM? These are bizarre rumors to me. Running a front office is a very different skill set from being a field manager. Also hard to square those rumors with reports that Crane wants to trend back to the Luhnow way of doing things (i.e., like a cutthroat corporate consultant).
Hinch has front office experience, and I believe Ausmus had a special assistant to the GM role in Anaheim
And I guess it goes without saying, but Hinch is well-versed in the Astros’ system and knows how to work with Crane and the rest of the front office. I’d still feel more comfortable with Sig or Stearns but Hinch would be a fine pick imo.
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Especially when we are stocked, pretty much what we had this season. With an extra starter ot two, maybe 3. Might as well hike the prices for relievers on other teams for next year.
Why not just re-hire Luhnow.?
The Astros won the WS. Crane is a big swinging-dick right now. Fuck MLB and their sensibilities.
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Jerry started making bad decisions early in his tenure.
The most famous early one was letting things go south with Jimmy Johnson.
He then hired/fired Switzer/Gailey/Campo before hiring Parcells. Meanwhile he paid aging veterans too much trying to hang on and constantly fucked up drafts by trading up/ down trying to hit on something.
Parcells added sanity and righted the ship but a soon as he left Jerry was back to his old ways. In the past decade draft decisions have been better because Will McClaa has been in charge. The best example of this was Jerry had the card with Johnny Manziel’s name on it and had to be held back from turning it in. They instead drafted Zack Martin. Jerry fumed “that’s how you go 8-8.” Martin has been an All Pro 7 times and is considered to likely be a HoFer.
This is all football stuff but not nearly all of it. I left out bathroom strippers, illegitimate children, marketing gimmicks, side businesses. Hard knocks, twice. Amazon’s All or Nothing.
If you think any of the above sounds like Jim Crane I can’t help you.
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Fuck Luhnow.
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Hinch was the Padres’ VP of scouting for four years. Ausmus was a special assistant to the GM for one year and field executive for two years. If either one is going to have the skill set to be GM, you’d think Hinch would have to be the heavy favorite.
How many field managers have gone on to become GM? That must be a pretty exclusive club, at least in the modern era.
I’m hoping for Sig.
Side note. Edwardo Perez mentioned two names on the radio Monday morning to watch for. I believe he said Crane knew both of them. One was Dana Brown with the Braves who I think is also being considered for the Tigers’ GM role. The other was some who’s last name was O’Neal???
I am curios if the Astros have checked in on former Luhnow hire and current VP of Baseball Development for the Braves, Mike Fast. He left the Astros in 2018 for Atlanta and has been involved in the Braves recent run of success. I don’t know why he left in 2018 or what his working relationship was like with Crane or the Astros front office, but it is surprising to me that his name is not mentioned in the same breath as Mejdal or Stearns given his resume.
Also, how cool would it be for the Astros GM to be a former TZ poster? 
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Wasn’t Hinch the GM in Arizona for a short time?
No he was director of player development before being named manager.
He was never GM there but did have a couple of player personnel and development type of positions. He has wanted to be a GM for a long time. in 2006 Baseball America named him one of baseball’s “10 to watch” in the next 10 years for his promise as a farm director and future general manager.
You got it backwards. The Astros would be saying, “how cool is it that a former TZ poster is our new GM!”
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Loved Ausmus as a smart player, but not sure how his name gets in the mix for all these jobs over the years. He hasn’t really had any sustained success as a manager. And he really pissed me off with his attitude and comments in the Jake collision back in 19. Next.
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Ausmus impresses me as a 10-6 “worker” who takes a two-hour lunch out of the office. Either I’m wrong (likely, I suppose) or there is no chance in Hades he could get the job. Crane will be looking for a Dick Vermeil-type.
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