Well, I think there is some truth to what you are saying. When Crane bought the team, he was hands on at first. Then over time he really trusted Luhnow, and as far as I know the only real pressure that Crane put on Luhnow was at the trade deadline. One year Luhnow did not get a deal done for the Orioles closer at the time and Luhnow got upset. Crane then pulled off several deals at the next opportunity and Crane was more involved with meeting with people like Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan and others. He would come and meet with Luhnow and Hinch, but they largely all were on the same wave length and Crane trusted them. Then the scandal hit at Crane lost a lot of trust in his baseball people. He also was rushed to name a GM and selected from a group suggested by major league baseball. Crane at this time also became very involved in the scouting and the analytical part of the game. He also added people around baseball that he bonded with like Enos Cabell and Reggie Jackson. The relationship between Click and Baker and Crane was not good. Crane decided to side with Dusty, we won a WS in 2022. Since then, it has been weird. Dana Brown was probably the top GM candidate in baseball at the time Crane hired him, and he was known for his intensity in Atlanta and Toronto. Seems to me that while Brown and Crane get along, that Crane must not have full trust in Brown yet - or - Brown has an agreement with Espada that he will not interview for other positions for a set period of time. Either way - things are certainly different. Brown was able to make the front office promotions he wanted to make, and as far as I know - the decision to not bring back Goodrum was based on several important people in the organization not liking her approach and felt she was in over her head. Remember - at the deadline, the Astros had limited assets to move in the minors and were very close to getting a reliever that is an analytics darling to go with Verlander, but the Mets wanted to gut the Astros system. So - it isn't like the philosophy of the Astros changed greatly in that regard... the biggest changes were from the managers seat, as he managed different than the front office wanted.
Crane has a lot of power - he ultimately chooses the manager, he is very active is free agent choices and he has negotiated the contracts for some of the bigger players like Verlander, Bregman and others. However - on the Verlander trade, it required Crane's approval, but Dana Brown wanted to make the deal. They were hoping to not move the big teenager that they moved in the deal, but Crane and Brown really wanted Verlander and did not feel that they had an avenue to add another premier pitcher.
