So do you think Crane will do whatever Manfred wants him to do? If so, Manfred is essentially running the Astros . You have an admitted Yankee fan running the Astros. Hopefully the talent Luhnow assembled trumps all. For this year I'm more worried about who the new manager is. They need an experienced manager that embraces analytics. Not a rookie bench coach. Any ideas of who fits this criteria? As it stands now, it sounds like Manfred is going to be making this call, so you can bet he will select the worst possible candidate possible.
Wonder if they could give her the reigns but bring in an experienced former GM as a special assistant type?
No, I don't think that Manfred is going to say "Hire X". However I do believe that whoever Crane hires will be someone that the commissioner approves of. That can be a number or potential people. As far as a manager? There are a number of possible candidates. Bob Geren, Mark Loretta, Hensley Muelens, Eduardo Perez, Sam Fuld and Don Wakamatsu. Still, as long as Crane and the league think there is sufficient room between the scandal and the existing staff, hiring Joe Espada is likely the smartest and safest hire. Personally I would try to get Sam Fuld.
I don't see why not. The other option is to promote Gelles to right below the GM and bring in someone with a strong baseball pedigree to run the team for awhile.
Eduardo Perez was very harsh in his comments this morning on MLB Radio. His stance is basically that we got off easy and the players should have been suspended too. In the world we live in today i'm sure some of the players have already seen his remarks so can probably scratch that one off the list
Everybody would. Hinch was as big a culprit of lefty/righty and making mid inning changes more than anybody. That rule may take years to adjust to.
Eduardo Perez can say what he wants. However the fact that he even thought there was a chance that the players would be suspended tells me he hasn't been paying attention. Also, keep in mind that Perez has worked with the Astros in the past.... and is good friends with both Beltran and Cora.
More reason to cross Perez off the list. We should try to stay away from anyone that associated with Cora and Beltran at this time. I’m pissed at those 2 more than anyone from this scandal. Taking advantage of their senior leadership and wooed the younger players into the scheme. Hard to say no as a younger player.
Why Fuld? I believe for the Astros to remain a really good organization, they need to find advantages where they can. Which leads me to believe that the Astros need to look for resources that are often over looked by the top 4-5 markets. Sam Fuld is extremely bright and is open to more cutting edge ideas. He is extremely smart. He is a Stanford graduate and received a scholarship offer from Yale. He has always been unconventional in some ways but he gets along with people and he would help create a positive atmosphere in Houston. He would work extremely well with a progressive front office.
I will be amazed if anyone can do better than Luhnow. Hopefully Crane can pull off another excellent hire as he once did with Luhnow or hopefully Luhnow kept the staff around him capable of carrying on what he started.
Here's an idea floated by Jim Bowden of Sirius XM... Bruce Bochy. 3 WS wins. Well like and respected, both in SF and across the league. Old, so not likely a long term solution, but they can groom someone for that after the team has rebuilt its reputation. And has been quoted as wanting one more shot with a team.
I'd be on board for this. He did a great job with the Padres until ownership decided to have a fire sale.
