Yeah possibly but Jeff never burned him on contract negotiations.

I just can't help but think somehow the disconnect between working with a TB type budget and a Jim Crane budget somehow played a role.

Again...All guess and conjecture.

I see this as a good sign. Crane isn't against going out and signing big time free agents the way Click is.

It's his money after all. He needs a GM to focus on the farm system, not tell him who he should and shouldn't sign, but give him advise.

It's not comparable to Jerry Jones because NFL doesn't have a farm system.

Beat40 said:

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zgood10 said:

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Get Luhnow on the horn

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but you cannot, cannot cost your team because of poor ethics. It's not just the cheating
.

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This guy isnt one of us

My thoughts exactly

JL is toxic and I don't want him anywhere near this organization.

Win a WS without cheating and finally start to shed the stench of the all that only to turn around and rehire the guy running things when it all went down.

Hell to the nah, to the nah nah nah

Disagree. The moves in the regular season matter. Who's to say if Mancini hit everyday he doesn't get on a hot streak and help carry us in the postseason. Javier saw great success with Vazquez, maybe McCullers would too. Then we'd get a better bat.

Just because something worked out overall, doesn't mean mistakes were not made.

Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw and the team are in agreement. Deal thought worth close to $20M for 2023. @Ken_Rosenthal was on it

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 11, 2022

Mathguy64 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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I posted yesterday I don't think Crane liked having to step in anytime something big was happening (ie JV resigning, Yordan extension).

Just my gut but I think Click was used to operating on a tB budget and would get cold feet on some of these big deals and Crane would step in.

I'm guessing Crane wants someone who can do this without having to babysit.

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I wonder if its just the opposite. He let Lunhow do that and it burned him bad so he's decided to oversee it much more closely.

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Based on comments from Click, he appears to work methodically and Crane seems to be a quick decision and go guy. That can certainly cause conflict between employee and boss.

It's a combination of everything everyone has mentioned. Crane stepping in, Click working slower than Crane would like, Click and Baker in conflict and Crane siding with Baker.

I honestly think a larger portion that anyone is letting on between Crane an Click is JV. I don't think Click wanted to pay JV and Crane wants to keep him around. If we re-sign JV whatever the cost is, that will tell me a whole lot.

With the Astros likely overhauling their baseball ops department keep an eye on Brad Ausmus joining in some capacity. Ausmus was Oakland’s bench coach in 2022

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) November 11, 2022

I don't want him anywhere near our team or organization.

Ag_07 said:

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My thoughts exactly

JL is toxic and I don't want him anywhere near this organization.

Win a WS without cheating and finally start to shed the stench of the all that only to turn around and rehire the guy running things when it all went down.

Hell to the nah, to the nah nah nah

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I get what youre saying, but its not like JL had anything to do with it. The primary architects of it now work for the yankees and redsox, and they dont have "the stench".

Like it or not, regardless of what happens, the media/rival fanbases will never stop smelling "the stench".

Farmer1906 said:

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With the Astros likely overhauling their baseball ops department keep an eye on Brad Ausmus joining in some capacity. Ausmus was Oakland’s bench coach in 2022

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) November 11, 2022

I don't want him anywhere near our team or organization.

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So handsome though

Good golly, don't like the sound of overhauling the Ops department after we just fielded one of the best teams ever.

Hoping Crane has an ace in the hole.

Beat40 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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I posted yesterday I don't think Crane liked having to step in anytime something big was happening (ie JV resigning, Yordan extension).

Just my gut but I think Click was used to operating on a tB budget and would get cold feet on some of these big deals and Crane would step in.

I'm guessing Crane wants someone who can do this without having to babysit.

---

I wonder if its just the opposite. He let Lunhow do that and it burned him bad so he's decided to oversee it much more closely.

---

Based on comments from Click, he appears to work methodically and Crane seems to be a quick decision and go guy. That can certainly cause conflict between employee and boss.

It's a combination of everything everyone has mentioned. Crane stepping in, Click working slower than Crane would like, Click and Baker in conflict and Crane siding with Baker.

I honestly think a larger portion that anyone is letting on between Crane an Click is JV. I don't think Click wanted to pay JV and Crane wants to keep him around. If we re-sign JV whatever the cost is, that will tell me a whole lot.

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I think you're beating around the right bush. Crane is a businessman who built a huge logistics company from scratch. Click is a baseball nerd. It makes sense that there's a clash of style there.

Totally agree that there's a 0% chance Luhnow will be back, but his business consulting background probably made a better match for Crane from a work-style standpoint than Click.

It seems like Stearns is Crane's guy but 1) it's not clear if he can get out of his Brewers contract and 2) we'll have to fight the Mets for him.

And it's not just the sign stealing stuff with Luhnow.

Dude ran a borderline toxic work environment. There's a reason he's blackballed in MLB and had to run to soccer.

Great GM. Horrible leader and people person.

Thankful for what he's done but I don't want anything to do with him.

Farmer1906 said:

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With the Astros likely overhauling their baseball ops department keep an eye on Brad Ausmus joining in some capacity. Ausmus was Oakland’s bench coach in 2022

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) November 11, 2022

I don't want him anywhere near our team or organization.

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Christ, just because he went to Dartmouth doesn't mean he's baseball smart. Thanks for the game-tying HR in the NLDS,Ausmus, but no thanks.

Farmer1906 said:

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With the Astros likely overhauling their baseball ops department keep an eye on Brad Ausmus joining in some capacity. Ausmus was Oakland’s bench coach in 2022

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) November 11, 2022

I don't want him anywhere near our team or organization.

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brad strikes out on the field, and in coaching/front office

Mathguy64 said:

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It's his team and he can run it how he wants but it sure feels like he's teetering on the edge of screwing this up. It feels like he's about to be Jerry Jones.

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Eh

He turned around the Astros organization, I'm going to give Crane the benefit of the doubt here

He's a ruthless business guy no doubt but his methods have been extremely successful without question

We don't know the full story with Click. I don't think any of the moves he's made thus far have been game changing. His best moves were pretty obvious (extensions), his worst moves were bringing in outside signings that really didn't pan out very well.

He was apparently willing to trade a great starter with 3 years of control for a rental catcher, so….if that's the case and he was strongly pressing for that trade, I'm not butthurt at all about Click being shown the door

Nino Brown said:

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I see this as a good sign. Crane isn't against going out and signing big time free agents the way Click is.

It's his money after all. He needs a GM to focus on the farm system, not tell him who he should and shouldn't sign, but give him advise.

It's not comparable to Jerry Jones because NFL doesn't have a farm system.

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Ag_07 said:

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And it's not just the sign stealing stuff with Luhnow.

Dude ran a borderline toxic work environment. There's a reason he's blackballed in MLB and had to run to soccer.

Great GM. Horrible leader and people person.

Thankful for what he's done but I don't want anything to do with him.

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I dont want him to be my friend, i want him to win pennants.

Mathguy64 said:

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It's his team and he can run it how he wants but it sure feels like he's teetering on the edge of screwing this up. It feels like he's about to be Jerry Jones.

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Doesn't feel like that at all actually. Think it's a rather lazy comparison.

This is kind of what we are saying

Houston #Astros owner Jim Crane, despite their differences, knew he had to make GM James Click an offer after winning the World Series.
Crane also made an offer that he probably knew Click would reject.
It’ll be intriguing how many front office employees hired by Click will stay.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 11, 2022

Why does everyone hate Brad Ausmus so much? Seems more than just he isn't a good coach.

Fair but my point is Click won 2 of those and a WS

Foundation and blueprint there for other quality people to do that for us that don't carry the baggage that Luhnow does.

BeaumontAg05 said:

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Why does everyone hate Brad Ausmus so much? Seems more than just he isn't a good coach.

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The jake marisnick collision comments against the angels is where i started despising ausmus

BeaumontAg05 said:

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Why does everyone hate Brad Ausmus so much? Seems more than just he isn't a good coach.

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I don't hate him, but what will be his role if he does get hired into baseball ops? We have smarter people in there now.

BeaumontAg05 said:

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Why does everyone hate Brad Ausmus so much? Seems more than just he isn't a good coach.

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He's a terrible coach. Go ask Det what they think about him.

AggiEE said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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It's his team and he can run it how he wants but it sure feels like he's teetering on the edge of screwing this up. It feels like he's about to be Jerry Jones.

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Eh

He turned around the Astros organization, I'm going to give Crane the benefit of the doubt here

He's a ruthless business guy no doubt but his methods have been extremely successful without question

We don't know the full story with Click. I don't think any of the moves he's made thus far have been game changing. His best moves were pretty obvious (extensions), his worst moves were bringing in outside signings that really didn't pan out very well.

He was apparently willing to trade a great starter with 3 years of control for a rental catcher, so….if that's the case and he was strongly pressing for that trade, I'm not butthurt at all about Click being shown the door

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The bullpen was a huge click project.

I have no qualms with Crane not wanting to retain Click. It's ok that people don't work well together. It can still lead to success, as it did here.

I understand Crane wanting to get someone who aligns more with his style. I hope it's Stern because it at least seems like he's no worse than Click. Hopefully he'll be better in certain areas.

MosesHallRAB04 said:

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AggiEE said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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It's his team and he can run it how he wants but it sure feels like he's teetering on the edge of screwing this up. It feels like he's about to be Jerry Jones.

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Eh

He turned around the Astros organization, I'm going to give Crane the benefit of the doubt here

He's a ruthless business guy no doubt but his methods have been extremely successful without question

We don't know the full story with Click. I don't think any of the moves he's made thus far have been game changing. His best moves were pretty obvious (extensions), his worst moves were bringing in outside signings that really didn't pan out very well.

He was apparently willing to trade a great starter with 3 years of control for a rental catcher, so….if that's the case and he was strongly pressing for that trade, I'm not butthurt at all about Click being shown the door

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The bullpen was a huge click project.

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Mixed bag. He had a huge bust with Baez. Most of our core bullpen was in place in our system before he came along.

But Montero and Stanek were great moves.

I'm not discounting that Click has had positives here, but it's not obvious to me that he's above and beyond other GMs on the market

all that baggage associated with dominating trades to the point where literally everyone is pissed off at you and the Cardinals are hacking your servers

bring back the architect

What about Mike Fast? I wouldn't mind having him back if we can't get Mejdal.

HOU posted 112 wRC+ & scored 4.5 runs/game where he hit second. They posted 112 wRC+ & scored 4.5 runs/game when he did not hit second. This is cherrypicked and a bad way to evaluate the person who got 60% of the innings for one of the most dominant bullpens ever off scrap heaps. https://t.co/7hrGzKEU44

— Ben 🥇 (@midzee4) November 11, 2022

Mixed bag?

Click built this BP

He acquired Stanek, Neris, Montero. He extended Pressly and developed/stuck with Abreu.

Without those guys we don't win a WS.

Farmer1906 said:

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HOU posted 112 wRC+ & scored 4.5 runs/game where he hit second. They posted 112 wRC+ & scored 4.5 runs/game when he did not hit second. This is cherrypicked and a bad way to evaluate the person who got 60% of the innings for one of the most dominant bullpens ever off scrap heaps. https://t.co/7hrGzKEU44

— Ben 🥇 (@midzee4) November 11, 2022

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I think that tweet from Bonda is petty and crappy.

It reads as Pena was the obvious 2-hole hitter and Click was stupid not to see it. Many, many didn't want Pena in the 2-hole, including many posters here. On paper, it didn't make sense during the season - he was not one of the top 4 hitters on the team.

Also, he didn't force Dusty to bat Pena somewhere else.

And I'm glad the tweet you quoted, Farmer, points that out.

Agreed its a bad way to look at it, but in the end Dusty was proven correct. Pena in the 2 spot was a great decision.


I think Click was a fine GM. Don't know that he's irreplaceable.