Latest Astros comments raises MORE questions about who is REALLY in charge in Houston

#astros #stonecoldstros #sportsmaphou

For the full audio podcast:

Amazon:
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/289448a4-0c83-4aeb-8bac-30df7466eca2

Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stone-cold-stros/id1658116385?uo=4

Google:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzUwOTMyMDUucnNz?sa=X&ved=0CAIQ9sEGahcKEwiAwtT1xfz7AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQMw

iHeart:

Spotify:

Follow Charlie Pallilo on Twitter:
Tweets by Pallilo

Follow Josh on Twitter:
Tweets by JoshJordan975

Follow SportsMap HOU on TikTok:

@sportsmaphou

Follow SportsMap HOU on Twitter:
Tweets by sportsmaphou

Follow SportsMap HOU on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sportsmaphou/

Follow SportsMap HOU on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sportsmaphou/

uh Reggie Jackson was on uh John Haymon
and Joel Sherman’s podcast um and they
were talking about uh the the the snail
deal came up and I want to read you this
quote that came out of that conversation
because I think it’s worth reacting to
uh for several reasons um this again
this is re Reggie Jackson uh ast’s
consultant uh quote being fiscally
responsible is what kicked us out of the
snail deal he signed a two-year deal for
62 million that’s too much for him he’s
been hurt a couple times he’s got an
option on his own uh between the four or
five people who make decisions with the
Astros we don’t play that game so I
think there’s a lot to unpack there um
from that quotes let’s start with just
the snail comments especially
considering the state of the rotation
what Charlie what’s your immediate
reaction to let’s let’s just start with
the substance of what Reggie Jackson had
to say in his evaluation of Blake Snell
well I was fine with not going there for
Blake snil I mean the rotation was
crying out for help uh but I’m wary of
guys who start Seasons late they could
be more apt to come down injured uh
let’s not overreact to the fact that
Snell two starts in with the giants has
not been good as ex- team the Rays
mauled him over the weekend but this is
a guy who never ever goes beyond six
Innings rarely Gets You Through six
Innings he’s thr grown more than 120
Innings once in the last five seasons it
happened to be last year perfect timing
wins the sa Young Award as he as he hits
the market uh but I could understand the
the dis discipline there uh but Reggie
was wrong in talking about the injuries
Snell’s not had any injuries within the
last three years um and the idea that um
fiscally responsible then you turn
around and give a closer five years $95
million okay not 31 million but in total
commitment 95 million as opposed to Max
62 on Snell so I thought there was some
inconsistency there I just find it
interesting that that Reggie Jackson and
good for him for speaking out and having
a role that he’s happy to have where
he’s deemed relevant within the
organization but I it’s just
increasingly clear that that Dana Brown
does not fully wear the pants that one
Associates with a general manager
wearing those pants in Major League
Baseball yeah and it’s just a reminder
that this is not how Luna ran the front
office back in the day I I think there’s
a lot lot less nerds in the room a lot
more older ball players giving their
opinions uh I think it’s funny now
they’re using the back of the baseball
card thing with the braid to be like
well if you look at the back of his card
he’s a notorious slow starter it’s like
oh great so now we’re using that line to
justify why he’s not very good but let’s
be honest about the Snell thing the fact
that they were even considering it and
there were reports about it shocks me
this doesn’t feel like thing that the
Astros would have done to where you know
he has the player option so if you take
a gamble on him you sign him and then if
he does have a good year and you win on
that gamble he can just go right back
out and be a free agent again and leave
your team so I get why they did that I
remember when the Korea negotiations
were going on that the Astros didn’t
want to have player options they they
don’t really play that game so it just
cements the fact that this is Jim Crane
mostly running this thing and Dana
Brown’s kind of doing the the day-to-day
business but
I think this is Jim Crane is kind of the
deao general manager and I mean there’s
nothing we could do about it we just
have to hope that he keeps learning and
gets better at it and obviously track
record’s pretty good and specifically to
snell uh I would have been happy with
the risk and I presume the Astros
actually would have been okay if if
Snell had taken whatever the Astros
offer actually was sometimes teams float
that hey we’re in on this guy we’re
trying to get after that guy so so fans
any others who maybe are being critical
of how you’re going about your business
well at least they tried um I think they
just hope that Snell’s Market was really
going to crash and maybe they could get
him at 22 million or 21 million instead
of 31 million but if you’d gotten Snell
for 31 million and he was a stud and
helped you get back to that fifth world
series of this era and then he left as a
free agent okay but the concerning risk
is but what if he comes here and he has
a middling year or has injury problems
or both it gives you 128 Innings with a
380 erra it’s I up in and then you’re
unhook for $31 million in 2025 um so it
was a sensible business decision for the
the Astros to make um but again when you
have one person saying one thing another
person saying another that Dana Brown
well there was no one out there would be
remotely worth compared to our internal
options uh Jordan Montgomery helped end
your season last year and helped the
Rangers win the World Series I’m saying
it was obligatory that the Astros should
have offered him the deal that he
ultimately took with Arizona uh you know
a deal so bad for the player that he
fired Scott Boris over it last week um
but in the end it’ll be about the
results and if their pitching sorts
itself out and his team’s back in the
playoffs and performs credibly in the
postseason all bygones will be bygones
on all this stuff Josh I want you to
Rick I was gonna ask that exact question
I want you to react to What Charlie just
brought up again about Dana Brown’s
comments he made uh after they missed
out on Snell and they were asking about
other potential uh you know free agents
that were out there saying that
basically what was out there left on the
market was comparable to what their
internal options considering all the
question marks does that look even more
those comments look even more odd now
from Dana Brown and now that we know
that there’s a multi-person committee is
there a possibility that maybe that’s
not even what he feels that maybe he’s
carrying water for some other decision
makers on the team oh I mean that’s
certainly possible I mean but you know
Dana Brown knew what he was getting into
when he took this job he he knew Jim
Crane I mean ever since the Scandal he’s
been very Hands-On and and for good
reason he doesn’t want something like
that slipping past him again so that
that’s just part of the deal Dana
Brown’s background and scouting I think
is one of the big reasons he got hired
because the farm system is just one of
the worst in baseball and they’re trying
to fix that and the the sign stealing
you know penalties really hurt them
missing out on a those draft picks for a
couple years so it’s an uphill an uphill
battle but yeah I mean the Michael
Lorenzen sign with the Rangers I think
he got one year four and a half million
bucks I know he hadn’t done really
anything yet but he was at least a warm
body but Dana Brown couldn’t have known
like oh you know we’re we’re gonna start
the season with Verlander framber just
all these guys down Hunter Brown’s gonna
come out and not be able to get out of
first Innings of baseball games he he
couldn’t have seen all this coming they
were and I tweeted this out the other
day because of injuries Hunter Brown is
kind of your number two behind Javier
right now which is is
terrifying right but you know in reality
you know Blanco is probably your number
one and Javier is your number two but on
paper with the injuries they’re dealing
with Hunter Brown is kind of your number
two they got to get something out of him
I just I don’t think they they think he
thought he was going to take a a step
forward and be a quality pitcher and
start building on that career it just
hasn’t happened and for me I think he
just he’s not good at commanding the
fast ball in hitting spots he’s wild in
the strike zone and even though his
stuff is good these are big League
hitters you you leave it over the plate
you know umpires aren’t going to give
you pitches a little off the plate if
you’re missing the strike zone so often
so he’s in a bad spot he he’s got to get
that fast ball under control because the
stuff plays but you got to be able to
hit your spots you know where is it come
in on the Spectrum plausible best or
good case scenario and fantasy you know
crossing your fingers running around
Gathering up rabbit’s feet four leaf
clover and hoping hoping for the best
but the not is once you get back the
guys you expected to be your top two
starters and they join Javier and then
Blanco and whoever else on the roster
four five right there fingers crossed on
Jose ariti wasn’t good last year when he
pitched a little bit that he was healthy
and then you’re getting Garcia back
Garcia is going to be back after the
All-Star break mcculler is more of a
question but they’re probably think get
at least one so that they have these
seven eight options along the way to
fill out the bingo card that enough of
them will line up to be okay now the way
The Season’s gone initially all right
they’re having a bell more water you
know needed extra buckets to get that
water out of the
boat so as they buy their time do they
have enough buckets or is enough water
flush in there that uhoh the ship is
sunk to a point where you’re really not
going to be able to Bob back up to the
surface and make your push they’re not
close to being that that at that level
yet in part because the division looks
looks rather weak and in part because
we’re just in into the second inning of
the season this
week yeah I know you know getting back
to the um the conversation about the
advisers in the circle of trust or who
you know however you want to say it I
know Jeff Bagwell on the broadcast
ruffle some feathers over the weekend
with his comments about not knowing what
ex wobo was as a as a stat um people
seem to be outraged going like this is a
guy who’s advising Jim Crane I I think
it was probably tongue and Chic uh more
than anything I think he’s kind of a
troll when it comes to the analytics
audience and and the uh the baseball
nerd crowd um so and and again I also
think too um you have different types of
advisers so uh perhaps you know I don’t
think you’re going to lean on him for
statistical analysis they have other
people in house that could do that but I
I do think a lot of the uh uh his his
attitude towards that was in in just
analytics and leaning too hard in One
Direction in general was probably what
that statement was indicative of and not
necessarily an absence of knowledge on
that as well well uh I didn’t see it so
so you can’t pick up the Nuance
sometimes if you just see there he of of
the quotes but uh I’m guessing he was
not being tongue and- cheek on that and
Bagwell doesn’t know what which stat was
it X and you know what that’s okay yeah
because you have different people with
different strengths and different
perspectives and and viewpoints and I
wouldn’t hold it at all against Jeff
Bagwell you know bad bip I guess is
generally wellknown now in baseball
circles that okay you should have an
idea what that is but you know FIP
there’s some alphabet soup of of
analytics so that doesn’t bother me in
bagwell’s case because Jeff luno as the
master architect of this era of of
Astros baseball he didn’t unilaterally
make every decision he didn’t Scout
every player you’re always counting on
the Council of others and people who
deal with specific statistical
breakdowns um you know the video on
pitchers who are more likely to come up
injured and then even a little bit of
the old Scouts eyeball test um so it’s
the it’s it’s the you know the I don’t
know if a president is only as good as
his cabinet but who’s in the cabinet
what’s the the quality of the group
there or is it just crony golf buddies
who it’s fun to hang around with and
have as your friends I think some of
that has crept into the Astros front
office a little bit um is it going to
take them down and render this era
shorter than it might otherwise have
been keep
listening yeah and and you mentioned
Luna J Luna made mistakes his resume is
not without its own pot marks too I mean
again when you build up a juggernaut the
way he has people tend to overlook that
because it’s you know the overall
average of of hits that he had and also
to your point he had people that were
advising him that he trusted into uh but
uh Verlander is not an astro without Jim
Crane pushing for it as if you believe
the reports same with uh Zach grinkie um
and for perspective listen to Yankees
fans and how jealous that they are that
the fact that Reggie Jackson is a part
of the Astros front office and the
Yankees wanted nothing to do with them
uh they they look the other way on it
you know we look at it as a man you know
here’s another older aging player who is
giving old school perspective on the
Yankees actually would would would
welcome that again I don’t know we don’t
know to what level and what influence
Reggie Jackson has but it it would be
the equivalent of us watching the
Yankees have a dynastic run with Craig
Vio advising in the front office well
they got
off yeah so um so any I I just think
it’s funny it’s it you know we the the
quote’s interesting and I I don’t know
if we’re reading too much into it but I
just wanted to get your perspective on
that that’s going to be it for this
episode of Stone Cold tros if you listen
on podcast and you enjoyed the show
please be sure to give us a festar
rating Charlie Josh and I will catch you
next week but you don’t have to wait
that long to get your use of sports fix
all you have to do is subscribe to
sports map Houston on YouTube and sports
map Texans as well we’ll have some bonus
content during the week for you there
and until next time ghost Rose
[Music]
all