From the article
"The Astros have interviewed several folks for their open GM job and owner Jim Crane is hoping to have someone in place before spring training. Ex-Marlins GM Michael Hill and ex-Giants GM Bobby Evans are among the interviewees. Astros legend Jeff Bagwell has a prominent role in the search and will continue to have a big role in development after a hiring is made. "
The community outreach executive with an update…
Why not Luhnow then?
I guess I just honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Bagpipes was a bad ass in the front office. What couldn’t be do on a baseball field?
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Bagwell is a baseball savant and I love having his contribution in the organization. But having him with any level of responsibility for negotiations, transactions, or the like would be an epic disaster.
So those duties are reserved for analytics nerds or Baseball Prospectus writers? Maybe advanced degrees from Harvard or the Wharton School of Business? Ok, I got it. Baseball people should stay on the field and out of the front office. Leave the decisions requiring intelligence to those who need directions to the clubhouse.
There are not now and will not be “epic disasters” associated with the Astros. The current criticism of Bagwell on here based on nothing more than his talking to writers mystify me. I trust Crane’s judgment on hiring and in selecting advisors. The current Astros dynasty is his, and his hiring decisions are a big part of it. When he hires a GM, I’ll hide and read what the TZ experts say.
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What are you basing this on?
Come on. The level of expertise on message boards is staggering.
Is there any real indication that Bagwell has made major decisions on roster moves or player development? I know he’s voiced his opinion and is close with Crane, but there’s been no reporting that the club has acted on any decisions of his. Right now the organization needs someone to field media questions in lieu of a GM and Crane has designated Bagwell for that role over e.g. Ball or Firkus—so from the outside he is playing the role a GM would play—but who knows if the same holds true internally. I guess we’ll find out if they start changing their use of hitter analytics. At some point that would be reported.
I’m not at all saying he’s a powerless mouthpiece, but it’s still very unclear to me what material influence he has over baseball operations. None of this offseason’s moves strike me as different from what Crane and the front office would have done in his absence.
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An extensive amount of mutual acquaintances who, to a person, swear that he is baseball brilliant and otherwise not very bright.
Not at all. For example, Hinch and Ausmus would be great GM candidates.
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Bob Nightengale reports that Atlanta’s Dana Brown has emerged as the clear front runner for the Astros vacant GM position.
I laugh heartily at the suggestion of Hinch. My hope is Brown.
Friends of friends deem Bagwell “not bright.” That is a heavy burden to carry on the internet.
Well, I’m kinda limiting his contributions to baseball. I’m not asking him to split the atom.
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So Stanford and Dartmouth are just as good as Harvard and Wharton when it come to something as simple as baseball?
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Maybe even Texas Tech? I am throwing Tex’s hat in the ring.
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Let’s not get carried away
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From a quick dive into Braves-fan twitter they seem despondent at the prospect of losing Brown. A quote from Anthopoulos about Brown pushing to draft two of their rookie sensations:
“I remember Dana telling me [Michael Harris II] was a top-five high-school bat in the draft — he wrote it in his report as well — and that we had to take him,” Anthopoulos told reporters recently in Atlanta. “He wasn’t highly touted at all and Dana wanted to take him in the third round. I remember asking him if he was sure we needed to take him that high and he was adamant. He did the same thing with Spencer Strider (the Braves’ fourth-round pick) in 2020. I’ve been with him a long time and when he’s that convicted I stay out of the way.”
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Am always amused by sophisticates who disparage a Bagwell who does not have the advantages of an elite educational background. These are the same people who do not have enough sense to pour piss out of a boot.
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