00:00I think Jim Crane has already fired Dana Brown.
00:03It's just not officially official yet.
00:05Okay.
00:06Yeah.
00:06I think he's already fired him.
00:08And the reason I say that...
00:09So in the midst of a 3-1 loss for the Astros
00:12versus the lowly Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
00:15Yes.
00:15This is where your mind went to.
00:17Why is that?
00:17Because I always like to think like big picture.
00:19I always tell you what's the story,
00:21you know, that kind of thing.
00:22That's true.
00:22You were a newspaper man, weren't you?
00:23I always think what's the story,
00:24what's the big picture.
00:25To me, I'm watching this game
00:27and okay, it's just one game.
00:28It's a bad loss.
00:29Their offense stinks.
00:31Their pitching was not good.
00:33They could have used some bullpen relief.
00:35They didn't get it.
00:36They had to go to their bullpen.
00:37And I'm like, you know what?
00:39Jim Crane pulled every string at the trade deadline.
00:42Correct?
00:43Would you disagree?
00:45Wait, what?
00:46Jim Crane pulled every string at the trade deadline.
00:48Like he made ultimately every decision.
00:51Oh, okay.
00:51I thought you meant like...
00:52All right.
00:53So when you said pull the string,
00:54my brain thought pulled out all the stops.
00:56And I was like, buddy,
00:56there were many stops that were still pushed in on Oregon.
00:59Like he was holding the puppets.
01:00By the way, do you know that it's organs?
01:03Like a literal musical instrument organ
01:05is where pulling all the stops came out?
01:07Yeah.
01:07Okay, I didn't know that.
01:08Yeah, because you got stops that changed the tone.
01:09Just learned that relatively recently.
01:11Really? Cool.
01:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:12So that is your fun fact of the day.
01:14He was the puppet master, correct?
01:15I mean, it was clear.
01:16When you get, what was it, Trevor Larnak,
01:18who it seemed like they had a deal for
01:20and ultimately that gets vetoed by Jim Crane.
01:22Yeah.
01:22Mind you, I did go in.
01:23I sent you guys this and y'all didn't respond,
01:25so I figured that you guys were,
01:26your eyes glazed over when you saw
01:28Weighted Runs Created Plus as a stat that was in there.
01:31They were.
01:31They were like you the first day two years ago.
01:34But mind you, Dalton Varshow and Trevor Larnak,
01:37both in the bottom 100 of the 140 outfielders,
01:42I guess production-wise, since the trade deadline.
01:45So it's not like the other option,
01:47if they had not gone for Varshow
01:48or if Jim Crane had not vetoed,
01:50would have been better for the Astros to this point.
01:53But it is, I mean, to your point,
01:55Jim Crane did ultimately,
01:57like the buck stopped with him
01:58in a way that is a little bit different
02:00than other organizations at the trade deadline.
02:03So this is what I was thinking about.
02:04Why did he do that?
02:05If he's all about winning,
02:06if he's all about this team can go
02:08and make a long run,
02:09if he's all about trusting Dana Brown,
02:12trusting Joe Espada,
02:14they were legitimately in the ring.
02:16Were they leading at the trade deadline?
02:18They might have been.
02:18They were legitimately right there
02:20in the division at the trade deadline.
02:23Where were they on the third?
02:24Now I've got to go find it.
02:26But the bigger point is,
02:27so why did he do that?
02:28Because he knows.
02:30Because he knows this team can only go so far.
02:32And he knows he's moving on
02:34from Dana Brown and Joe Espada.
02:36And we saw it last night
02:38and in the last few days
02:39because this quote-unquote trade
02:41that they made for Hayden Wesneski
02:43and Ronel Blanco
02:45blew up in their faces.
02:47Hunter Brown continues to sort of just
02:52struggle, battle,
02:53whatever you want to call it.
02:54And then Javier is another pitcher.
02:56They easily, you know,
02:59previous iterations of Jim Crane
03:00would have gone out
03:01and gotten someone
03:02or someones.
03:03I think he's already,
03:04he knows.
03:05He knows, like,
03:05this is not going to happen
03:07and I'm not going to keep these guys.
03:09So why give them something
03:10to make them, you know,
03:12to make them kind of hang on
03:13a little longer?
03:13I think that some of this
03:14is also a reminder
03:15that there's just not much
03:16that there was available
03:17to be done there.
03:18But he's also protecting the farm.
03:19Yeah, and I think that
03:20that was a fair point.
03:22Like, they were protecting the farm.
03:23But honestly,
03:24I think that this is where
03:26Jim Crane is,
03:27can be frustrating to me.
03:28And I understand how one gets here,
03:30mind you.
03:30So I'm not doing this
03:31as just like standing on a soapbox
03:34and pointing a finger down
03:35at Jim Crane
03:36as if I could even point downward.
03:38Anyways,
03:38but he's trying to,
03:40he's trying to have his cake
03:41and eat it too.
03:42He's doing one of the most tempting,
03:44but honestly,
03:46things in sports
03:46that I honestly don't know
03:47is ever really successful,
03:50which is trying to play for now
03:51and the future
03:52at the same damn time.
03:52The team for which,
03:54the team rather
03:55that made this crystallize for me
03:57was the Golden State Warriors
03:58of probably like a few years ago,
04:01two, three years ago,
04:02and maybe actually more
04:03because time has flown.
04:05But you remember when they draft
04:06James Wiseman,
04:07number two overall?
04:08They have,
04:10what's the young man
04:11that they just got rid of?
04:12The small forward.
04:13I can't remember his name
04:13right this moment.
04:14But they get these young players in,
04:15but they're still trying to play
04:17for Steph and Clay
04:18and Draymond.
04:20And it's like,
04:20you kind of have to pick a direction.
04:22We can't try and get these young guys in
04:25and make this their team
04:26but also still play for the old guard.
04:28And it feels like
04:29that is also the conversation
04:30that's being had with the Astros
04:31where at the trade deadline,
04:33they have this move
04:34for like a Trevor Larnak
04:35that it seems like
04:36we'll have to use
04:37somebody that's on the active roster.
04:39And they're like,
04:39we don't want to trade
04:40from the active roster
04:40because we're playing
04:42to try and go and win the AL West,
04:44which is still obviously
04:45within reach
04:46because everybody's bad.
04:47But you also are very much
04:50at a point where
04:51if we're all being honest,
04:52this is a team
04:53that needs to be focusing
04:54on the future.
04:54Like the competition for them
04:56and the best teams
04:58in the majors,
04:59not just the AL this year,
05:00is clear, right?
05:02The difference is clear,
05:02clear eyes
05:03is what my mom would say.
05:04And so they end up
05:06in these two places
05:08for Jim Crane
05:08and this is where
05:09leadership needs to have
05:11needs to have leadership.
05:12This is where a leader says,
05:14I recognize these two
05:15disparate forces
05:17pulling at me
05:17and I make the decision
05:19one way or the other.
05:20Neither Jim Crane did.
05:21I think Dana Brown
05:23seemingly probably
05:24was in that place
05:25where the directives had that.
05:26But then, of course,
05:27Jim Crane is in that place
05:28where he did not make
05:29he didn't make a decision
05:30that pulled them
05:30in one direction.
05:31Well, and the reason is
05:34an earlier Jim Crane,
05:36heck, two years ago,
05:38two years ago,
05:39Jim Crane
05:40never, ever, ever
05:41would have gone
05:42into the trade deadline
05:43with a contending team
05:44and not made a big move.
05:46Wouldn't have done it.
05:47I mean, look at the track record
05:48year after year after year.
05:49They make some kind of move
05:51whether it's pitching
05:51or hitting.
05:53And so I think he's
05:55basically looked in the mirror
05:56and said,
05:57yeah, it's not going to happen.
05:58Obviously, we're not going
05:59to talk about this.
05:59We want to be contending.
06:01We want to get to the postseason.
06:02But it's not going to happen
06:03in terms of how far
06:05they can go in the postseason.
06:06It's not going to happen
06:06with Dana Brown.
06:07It's not going to happen
06:07with Joe Espada.
06:08It may not happen
06:09with some of the guys
06:10on this roster,
06:11which is another discussion
06:12that may be difficult
06:13to resign.
06:14Honestly, I'd be interested
06:15to hear if that was really
06:16the way that this is thing
06:17because it feels like
06:18the only thing that I've known
06:19of a level of clarity
06:21of Jim Crane
06:21is that he says
06:22that he always wants to win.
06:23But then honestly,
06:24the biggest thing that I know
06:25as a point of clarity
06:26in his M.O.
06:27is when it comes down
06:28to paying people,
06:29there is a bar
06:29that he will get to
06:30and he simply will not cross it.
06:32Yeah.
06:33And like those are the only things
06:34that I know
06:34with a level of clarity.
06:35His deadline is different.
06:35He goes for it
06:36and didn't.
06:38You know?
06:39So are you seeing
06:40a change in his game?
06:41Right?
06:41Like is that ultimately
06:42what we're going for?
06:43Do you feel like you know
06:44now with a certainty
06:45that there has been a change
06:46in Jim Crane's game
06:47and he's going to move
06:48in a different direction?
06:48I think we're seeing it.
06:49I mean, you know,
06:50watch what they do.
06:51This does not fit the character,
06:54did not fit the character
06:55of what Jim Crane likes to do,
06:57what this organization likes to do.
06:59You know,
07:00to be a contender
07:02and really not only not do anything
07:04but kind of go backwards.
07:05You know,
07:05you mentioned Varsho,
07:06but also,
07:07you know,
07:08Eric Getty goes
07:08and just relying on guys
07:11that are literally coming off
07:13of elbow surgery
07:14to be the answer.
07:16He knows
07:17that he never,
07:17ever,
07:18ever would have done that.
07:19And I recognize
07:19that this is easy to say afterwards
07:21and I know that it's uncomfortable
07:22because when you have
07:24an opportunity to win,
07:25like in sports,
07:26the idea is,
07:26I want to win.
07:27This is where Jim Crane,
07:29with the comfort of knowing
07:30that nobody's going to come
07:31and oust him
07:32from being the owner,
07:33needed to be like,
07:34actually,
07:35if this is something that I know,
07:36right,
07:37within my heart of hearts,
07:38that this is not going to be
07:39a path forward
07:40that is successful,
07:41that is where you need to use
07:42that comfort of your position
07:43to say,
07:44no,
07:44we are actually going to use this
07:45and go in a different direction.
07:47And one more thing
07:47that I think needs to be mentioned,
07:50at least from my perspective,
07:51I don't know about you,
07:53it's kind of the right decision.
07:55It is the right decision.
07:57You know,
07:58we'd love to see this team
07:59make the playoffs.
08:00We talked about it every day
08:01this last couple of weeks.
08:02I want to see them go
08:03as far as they can,
08:04but I think we,
08:05in our heart of hearts,
08:05we kind of don't think
08:06they're going to go very far,
08:07even if they do make
08:08the postseason.
08:10Well,
08:10they're definitely not going
08:11to go far
08:11if what happened last night
08:13continues to happen,
08:13where the few things
08:14that they've been able
08:15to do decently this season,
08:16like making a pitcher
08:17actually have to throw pitches,
08:19you're not going to go far.
08:20Oh boy,
08:21last night,
08:21do you know how many pitches
08:22he threw going through seven,
08:24count them,
08:24seven innings?
08:24Well,
08:25I was keeping track through,
08:26I think through four,
08:28he was still in the 30s.
08:31He was still in the 30s,
08:32the number of pitches.
08:33Is it Klasson,
08:33right?
08:34I believe so.
08:35I'm not going to lie.
08:36Buddy's name did not
08:37stick in my head.
08:38What did stick,
08:3989 pitches,
08:40yes,
08:40and it's George Klasson.
08:41Sorry,
08:42not 89.
08:42Sorry,
08:43I did a little bit of dyslexia
08:45and ended up with the number wrong.
08:4786 pitches.
08:48Didn't hit 90,
08:49going seven innings.
08:50He was in the 30s
08:51in the fourth inning.
08:52It just can't be that.
08:53Especially considering
08:54that your lineup
08:55isn't so good
08:56that you know
08:57you're going to get offense
08:57all the way through it
08:58and you've been in this way
09:00of not being able to score runs,
09:01you've got to at least force teams
09:03to actually have to
09:04throw you pitches.
09:05And this was one of those days
09:07where you absolutely
09:07did not do that
09:08and that's why you fall flat
09:09on your face
09:10on a 3-1 loss.
09:11Now,
09:11you hope that you get better
09:12tonight.
09:12However,
09:13tonight you're breaking in
09:14a debut of a young dude
09:16who probably should not
09:17even be playing this year
09:18in Ethan Petko.
09:20And so,
09:21yeah,
09:21man,
09:22there's a level of up and down
09:24that I've had with the Astros
09:25and I've got to be honest,
09:26I'm in the trough right now,
09:27man.
09:27I'm very frustrated.
09:29But I guess that's the nature
09:30of baseball,
09:30especially in the AL,
09:31generally this year
09:32because everybody's
09:33just not very good.
09:34All right,
09:35you're in the loop here
09:35on 95.7 The Fan,
09:37just getting going
09:37on a Wednesday.
09:38Appreciate all the
09:39well wishes and kindness
09:40for me hitting two years
09:42here at the station.
09:43I didn't know y'all cared
09:45that much,
09:45but I do want to remind you
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09:47here on 95.7 The Fan
09:48is presented by Xfinity.
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