Astros manager Joe Espada and GM Dana Brown are entering the final seasons of their respective contracts. It’ll be Espada’s third season in the role and Brown’s fourth year running baseball operations.
Many clubs prefer not to have their manager and front office heads on lame duck contracts. Astros owner Jim Crane has been more willing to do that than most of his counterparts, and it appears that both Brown and Espada may need to work on expiring deals in 2026. Crane said on Monday morning that there had been no extension conversations with either the GM or skipper, nor did the owner seem interested in doing that this offseason.
“I think we’ll go through this year like we always do, evaluate it and then make the decision at the end of the year,” Crane said (link via Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle). “We won’t probably do any extensions now. But I’m not saying that’s impossible. We haven’t talked about it yet. We’ve been focused on getting what we need to compete this next year.”
That doesn’t necessarily indicate any kind of dissatisfaction on Crane’s part with the team’s direction. Dusty Baker managed the Astros on a series of one-year contracts before retiring after the 2023 season. Houston also allowed former GM James Click to work through the end of his contract in ’22. That was driven partially by personal discord between Click and Crane that led the Astros to move on from him even though the team won the World Series. There’s no suggestion of such issue between Crane and his current staff.
The Astros narrowly missed the playoffs last season, snapping an eight-year run of postseason appearances in the process. Their 87-75 record was only marginally worse than the 88-win showing that was enough to claim an AL West title one year earlier. Houston was in control of the division at the All-Star Break last year, but they played at a slightly below-.500 pace in the final three months of the season. That was enough to not only drop behind the Mariners but also fall back of the Guardians, who rode a September hot streak into an improbable playoff berth to bump Houston from the field.
Houston’s focus this winter has been on the rotation with Framber Valdez hitting free agency. They’ve added Mike Burrows and Tatsuya Imai as mid-rotation arms behind ace Hunter Brown. The roster is probably close to what they’ll have on Opening Day, but they’re looking for a backup catching upgrade behind Yainer Diaz and could try to land a better left-handed hitting outfielder than Jesús Sánchez.
Good. That lame duck managerial contract myth is exaggerated. Perform or be gone.
I never understood why it’s frowned upon to let manager and GM contracts run their course.
They both need to be gone asap.
Went from Luhnow to Click to Brown. The decline in Houston is real.
Luhnow is probably one of the best talent evaluators in baseball history. The amount of championship seires, pennants and titles while with the Cardinals and Astros is unreal the amount with the players he selected after leaving or being scapegoated is even more mind boggling
I agree he is one of the best talent evaluating GMs in history, but to say he was scapegoated is a bit rich for my blood.
Both the Cardinals and Astros during his time at the helm had a clear culture of cheating to win. That buck stops at the boss no matter what line of business you’re in.
It caught up to him which is why he’s no longer in the game. He didn’t get scapegoated.
Dana Brown has to do better. Joe Espada did his best and should get an extension, unless Dana Brown is able to do something at the trade deadline and get what we need, Espada doesn’t have a roster.
Go Espada, Do better Brown.
It’s a little bit harder to win consistently when you don’t know what pitch is coming…
Good one.
Espada and Brown need to go. Dana has no clue how to be a GM. Luhnow can run circles around him as he was the best Houston had and was scapegoated. Espada does not know how to manage much less stand up for team. Dusty was way better than Espada. There are others out there. I saw see what is done this season and let go. Hopefully no talks will come.
I don’t see where either man has done a bad job. The Astros started by trading away veteran stars in 2011 and loading up prospects. Which worked magnificently since 2015 (particularly starting in 2017). That run is coming to an end. No GM or manager can avoid the decline. These guys are doing a pretty good job of slowing it down.
Owners preparing for their lock out.