Beat40 said:
Wasn't this the team that everyone said last year anyone can manage? Didn't everyone say any of use from TexAgs could have managed them to the ALCS?
So, it's either 2 options - 1) Dusty Baker actually is a good manager or 2) These players are letting Joe down in a big way.
While I personally think Dusty is a pretty decent manager, I lean more towards these players are letting the guy they supposedly love down. These aren't fresh from the farm guys. There is an MVP, a runner up for MVP, and two MVP candidates batting 1-4 with a WS MVP batting 6th. There are 3 all-stars in the back of the bullpen.
All except the MVP are not doing anything when it counts. Could that be the manager? I guess. But Espada has been in that dugout the past couple of years helping prepare that team on a daily basis. The leaders supposedly love Espada.
They are not playing like it, and I'm putting this more on them at this point in the season.
You're one of the best posters on here and this is much more meant to be conversational than argumentative. Also just wanted to scatter-shoot some other takes.
I was never as down on Dusty as most were. He did his job in 2020-22 (kept our heads high post-scandal and we won). By last year he had worn out his welcome and was doing alot of dumb sh*t. I generally maintained that he was probably doing little things behind the scenes to help offset some of it. Overall, his term was very successful. I don't want him back tho. Not even a little bit.
IMO Espada is a really good foot soldier. He's got a modern view of the game and is willing to let the analytics drive decisions. Seems like a solid clubhouse leader/organizer and communicator. In the right circumstance, I think he could be a very good manager (ie 2017-2019 when we had the best nerds in the game driving decisions).
Is he the right manager for the 2024 Astros? Maybe, maybe not. I really don't know. But I also don't think things would be much better with a different type of manager (ie a "let's get fired up" guy, a "rah rah" guy or an "old school baseball" guy).
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Before going too much further, I want to briefly preface that I don't rule out the possibility that we could turn things around this year. There's evidence to suggest that if can start hitting w RISP and/or we get our rotation healthy and/or our back-end bullpen performs that we'll ascend back up the standings as the year goes on. It's freaking April.
But as someone who has tended to stay on the stoic/optimistic side when it comes to the Astros (over the last eight years anyway), I also agree that something smells different this year. Something isn't adding up.
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IF the dynasty is in fact crumbling before our eyes, I think Espada is very very low on the blame list. The problem is deeply organizational (not attributable to any one factor) and has been building for a few years now. We've just done a really good job at patching holes the last few years.
My opinion is that we've lost our analytical edge. Partially due to a naturally occurring sequence of events. Partially due to some changes in the broader game. Partially due to influence of some former players who got the owner's ear and convinced him Click was too much of a nerd and wasn't a "baseball guy". Partially due to the owner stepping too deeply into our baseball decision making. Partially due to hiring a "baseball guy" instead of a nerd as our new GM.
In fairness, I think there is credence to the idea that you can only retain an analytical/nerd advantage over the league for so long. Eventually your best staff members get poached and ideas that were once cutting edge trickle out to the rest of the league and become more common practice.
There's also been a movement in the game to try and dilute the advantage of certain analytics. Pitch clocks, defensive alignment limitations, promoting more stolen bases, fewer in-division games against teams you've had more time to scout, etc. These all carry little ramifications of how much impact analytics can have.
But we've done a lot of it to ourselves. I love Diaz and want his bat in the lineup. But it's important to remember that he's in the lineup because of his bat. His learning curve as a game-management catcher is still very steep. Thinking he could come in and manage the staff without missing a beat is about as silly as the 2023 Cardinals thinking Wilson Contreras could come in and manage their staff as well as Yadi.
Does our pitching success only come down to catcher? Of course not. Did Maldy always make the right calls? Of course not. But when you take away Maldy's institutional knowledge of our staff (what they can throw, when, it what counts, against which types of hitters, etc) and combine it with our nerd exodus that Maldy helped cover up day-to-day, it's not gonna be pretty. IMO Click would have known that. It would have been nice to have Maldy back in a bench coach role but he wasn't ready to retire yet. Womp womp for us, I suppose.
If the season continues to look lost in mid/late May, I'd get the White Sox permission to talk to Maldy about a trade and say "listen we'll let you play a farewell season with the Astros and ride off into the sunset as JV's personal catcher. But that will be your only start each week. When you're not catching, we need everything you've got. You'll get to the park early every day and gameplan and sit next to Espada during the game and instruct Diaz between innings. And next year, you'll agree to come back as a coach."
Would that be enough to get us back on track? I have no idea. I just think we've quickly gone from smartest team in the league in terms of our pitching in 2022 to one that seemed patched together last year (lost Click + nerds) to one that seems totally lost today (lost Maldy).
Bringing Maldy's knowledge back into the clubhouse only goes so far in rectifying our bigger picture organization issues. Ultimately, any fixes that I would like to see require Crane to take a step back from his enhanced role in our front office and I don't think that's going to happen.
Even though his impact on the club is still incomplete and it would be unfair in many ways to can him, I would personally look to go a different direction from Dana Brown as GM if this season turns out to be a disaster. We need someone who Crane can lean on more comprehensively. Being the smartest team in the league has to start at the top. We had that with Luhnow and Click and they prioritized our analytical advantage. Brown may be an excellent scout but no one is ever going to confuse him for being the smartest guy in the room. He's a "baseball guy" who I'm sure Bags and Reggie love but the game has moved on.
LOL that turned out way longer than I thought. Enjoy the banter fellas. Hopefully better days are ahead.