An Open Letter to Jim Crane

One of the things I enjoy doing is to wander down memory lane with the blog. Sometimes I just randomly go back in time and read through some old posts and the comments. I try to ignore the ones where I want to trade Jose Altuve or think that Preston Tucker is the next big thing. Yesterday I came upon this gem from January 2015 written by Chip Bailey.

AN OPEN LETTER to Astros’ GM Jeff Luhnow.

It was a crucial time for the Astros and Jeff Luhnow. The team had finally risen out of the 100-loss mire of 2011 to 2013, but the 72-90 season was not a triumph, and it came with the firing or Luhnow’s choice (we thought) of manager Bo Porter, who did not even make it through 2 seasons. 2014 was also the time of the Brady Aiken first-round pick mess, and a lot of fans, and possibly Jim Crane himself, were wondering if “The Plan” was in the hands of the right GM.

Well, no doubt inspired by Chip’s letter, 2015 ended up as a big season for the Astros and for Jeff Luhnow. The team leaped into an unexpected appearance in the playoffs under new manager A.J. Hinch and Luhnow had a great draft that included two future All-Stars in Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker and draft choices that would be the part of future trades for Justin Verlander, Ken Giles, Aledmys Diaz, Martin Maldonado and in the case of Myles Straw, for Phil Maton and Yainer Diaz.

So, I thought it might be a good time to repeat what Chip, so eloquently prosed and send an open letter to the Astros’ owner, Jim Crane.

Dear Jim –

First, I want to say thank you. I’m sure you get a ton more complaints than you receive gratitude for what you have done for the baseball fans of Houston.  Since 2015, the team you and Jeff Luhnow re-built has made the playoffs eight times, the ALCS seven times, the World Series four times, and brought home the only two Championships in the team’s history. The team has had probably two or three times more success under your ownership than all your predecessors combined.

You bought the team as it was headed downward and then you and your new GM Jeff Luhnow took all the slings and arrows of the critics for cutting the budget to the bone, deliberately fielding a team that would fail, and running a team due to TV contract problems, that was not seen by the majority of your fanbase.  Let me assure you that I stuck with you and the team throughout this timeframe having many an argument on this blog with those who said you would never spend money on the team and that the team would never have success. I believed in what you were doing.

So, why am I writing right now? Perhaps it is premature, but it feels like the team has lost its way and that it is not certain that there is a “Plan” in place.  Maybe I am wrong, but you know that saying used when there is continuous failure, “Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result”? There is also a saying that I just invented relative to continued success, “Insanity is doing things differently and expecting the same result”.

We talked about how the Astros only made it through this period of excellence by running their business in a way that supported sustaining that excellence.  Five critical items: Astros’ sustainability – ALL THINGS ASTROS (chipalatta.com)

The team has strayed from some of these pillars over time. Some of it was due to the success in removing some of the discount options that came with finishing last. Some of it was self-inflicted wounds and front-office decision-making.

It is likely that you are thinking that the one constant throughout this Astros Renaissance has been you, Mr. Crane. There have been three different GMs and three different managers involved. Front office folks like Mike Elias, Sig Mejdal, and David Stearns have been here and gone, but the team has been to those seven consecutive ALCS appearances and beyond.

Yes, you were integral to the team’s success, but as with your other businesses, one key to your success in baseball was choosing the right people and supporting them in their decision-making.

I know if you had your way, AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow would not have been wiped away by the scandal, and you would be working with two men who created or supported “The Plan.” But that is not where you are. After being a team where it was pretty clear who was in charge and making decisions, it now feels like an unbalanced ship at sea, shifting swiftly back and forth with no clear means of control.

I’m not saying you should not bring in some folks you respect for their opinions on things. But right now, it is not clear who is in charge and if the correct folks are making decisions. It is not clear if there is a far-reaching Plan, what that Plan is, and who is in charge of making it happen.

This goes beyond whether the Astros should have brought in Jose Abreu and whether they should prop him up and hold on to him to soothe the egos involved. It goes to the heart of a successful franchise and the decisions they make to continue being one.

Yours Truly

Dan P