If Baker is willing to buy into analytics and allow Strom to manage the pitching staff, this can work. Despite my reservations about how he handles a pitching staff, he does easily have the best resume of anyone the Astros interviewed.
Welp. Yet another thing to get used to.
I really hate that this decision was not made by the GM. Luhnow took a lot of flack during his tenure (IMO, undeserved) for firing scouts and coaches, but the end result was that everyone in the org was, metaphorically, running the same operating system. I really think that was big driver of the organizationās successful rebuild.
Maybe Dusty is a fine manager. But what Iāve read about him suggests that thereās going to be compatibility issues between him and what remains of Astros Baseball Ops. And thereās still the possibility that the next GM hire wonāt be compatible with either Baker or current Baseball Ops.
Iām a pessimist at heart, so Iām battening down the hatches for a real shitshow this season.
This is assuming that the new GM is on board with the whole analytics movement. That was a Luhnow thing, but there is no guarantee that the new administration embraces the same philosophy.
I could easily be wrong, but I am assuming that Jim Crane isnāt an idiot and realizes the integral role analytics has played in the Astros recent success.
Dude is 70 years old. We donāt know if heās completely anti-analytics - it may very well be that he never managed for an organization as analytically advanced as the Astros, and thus never got the same opportunity to embrace it as he will in Houston. But at his age and stage of his career I doubt heās looking to make major changes to his management style.
Like HH, the cynic in me also wonders if this hire telegraphs a shift away from analytics.
Still, a better hire than Bannister or Showalter.
I donāt disagree with anything you are saying. Iām simply saying I can easily see how this works out well. Will it? That remains to be seen.
Unlike Mark, I donāt hate Baker. Neutral is what I am. Certainly not my top choice, but Crane could have done worse. I do not think my fandom would have survived Bannister.
This sums up my feelings too. Dusty Fucking Baker. Harumph.
Unspoken - āinterim managerā. Imagine this to be a short term commitment for both Manager and Franchise.
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That makes sense and means the new GM will get to have āhisā guy eventually.
As for Dusty, give me a shot at the playoffs and Iāll take my chances. 111 losses wasnāt that long ago.
just want the tornado to settle to a whirlwind eventually a small dust storm and finally smooth out to a faint dustā¦and just have all the upheavals settle down so the team can once again run smoothlyā¦will this be that season hope so afraid not
Mendoza being replaced on Sunday Night Baseball because of her opinion on the Astros. Whereās the uproar of support for her???
If they got rid of anyone it should be A-Rod.
Anyone who watches that show would agree with you.
Sadly, youāre probably incredibly wrong here.
I imagine most of the NY WE LOVE AROD! crowd probably think heās a fukin genius.
Is this fact or opinion? Is there a link to something?
The story I saw mentioned her role with the steM being a conflict of interest.
This was my understanding.
Which doesnāt explain how A-Rod stays.
My solution to ARod is the Worrell button.
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Crane knows the Astros are about to go 162 games without a single pitch of theirs on the black being called a āstrike.ā Baker is a stiff, here to collect a check for 10 months. Lost season awaits.