Dear Jim Crane.
Mr. Crane, we owe you a lot of thanks. You brought Houston fans a brand of baseball we’ve never seen before. Sure, we got close with Drayton McLane, and there were a few fun years there. Clemens, Pettitte, Biggio, Bagwell et al.
But you brought us two World Championships and several seasons at the top of the American League.
Thank you. You’ve earned your place in Houston sports history.
But we’ve been stuck on a side road for the past few years, and everybody in the truck knows it. We need to get back on the freeway. The problem is, the motor under the hood right now isn’t a freeway motor.
Over the past several years, this franchise has watched Gerrit Cole, George Springer, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Framber Valdez all leave Houston. Six homegrown or franchise-defining players, all gone within a six-year stretch. Since 2019, Astros players have signed nine-figure contracts worth more than $1.5 billion combined.
Only two were to stay in Houston: Jose Altuve‘s extension and Yordan Alvarez‘s commitment. Yordan wasn’t a free agent, but you stepped up and got that deal done, and it has paid off in a big way. The other six left because we weren’t willing to pay them.
We’re not here to relitigate every departure. Some of those players wanted to play elsewhere, and there’s nothing you can do about that. It’s just the business. But when the pattern repeats time after time, it stops being a series of individual choices and starts being an organizational one.
We get the hesitation. You gave Lance McCullers Jr. five years and $85 million, and he’s barely thrown a pitch since 2022. That kind of deal burns, and it’s fair to say it gave you reasons to think twice before committing long-term money again. But thinking twice and never acting aren’t the same thing.
Today, your Astros sit at 64-64 and lead the AL West by one game. On the surface, that looks like a team still in the race. You don’t have to dig too deep, though, to find the cracks. The run differential is -27, suggesting this club has been winning games it probably shouldn’t.
Seventeen different pitchers have started a game this season, and that ties the 1965 franchise record. And, um, that 1965 team finished 65-97, just saying.
Hunter Brown’s command is wobbly at best. Peter Lambert is carrying a workload I’m sure you, Dana, or Joe never expected him to handle. And Ethan Pecko, that 23-year-old out of Towson University, just made his major league debut Wednesday because Joe Espada is trying everything he can at this point to win a game and stay in the hunt.
The bullpen has been phenomenal for the most part, especially of late, and Josh Hader deserves a standing ovation for what he’s done since coming back from injury. But asking a bullpen to cover for a rotation this thin over a six-week stretch is hoping against hope.
The best player in the American League plays for you. Yordan Alvarez is leading the AL in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. He’s chasing the first MLB Triple Crown since Mickey Mantle in 1956. This may be the greatest individual season in franchise history, and it’s happening on a team that’s one game over .500 with a rotation held together by duct tape, rubber bands, and a prayer.
That should keep every one of us up at night.
Jeremy Peña hired Scott Boras, and the extension talks disappeared. Hunter Brown is a Boras client too. Dana Brown and Joe Espada are both working on expiring contracts, and you told reporters in January you hadn’t even discussed extending either one.
The CBA expires December 1, a lockout is all but guaranteed, and once that happens, everything shuts down: trades, signings, extensions, front-office restructuring, all of it will be frozen. If there was ever an offseason where the franchise needed to move quickly and decisively, it’s the one that’s about three months away.
Respectfully, Mr. Crane, we need you to lead. And we don’t mean that as a slogan. We mean the specific, uncomfortable, right-now kind of leadership that this moment requires. Pick up the phone and tell Boras you’re serious about keeping Jeremy Peña in Houston.
Sit down with Dana Brown and Joe Espada and give them an answer on their futures, because two men managing on expiring contracts aren’t managing with full conviction; they’re auditioning. You’ve had plenty of time to evaluate them, so you should know by now whether you can work with them next year or not, so tell them.
Houston fans watched 2025 end without a playoff berth for the first time since 2016, and they came back anyway this year. Many of them are still in the seats, still watching every pitch, still believing this thing can be turned around. That kind of loyalty deserves urgency from the top, and right now, it seems like we’re not getting it.
You built something in Houston that most owners never come close to. Two titles, seven straight ALCS appearances, a run that belongs in the conversation with the best stretches in American League history. Nobody can take that from you, and nobody should try.
But we’ve been driving on the side road long enough. The fans see it, the rest of the league sees it, the numbers confirm it, and time is not our friend. We need a freeway motor, and we need somebody willing to put one in.
You’re the only person who can make that call.
We’re asking you to make it.
Thank you!
Diehard Astros fans.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
26 responses to “An Open Letter to Jim Crane”
Chip, my take is somewhat different.
Cole, Springer, Bregman, Correa, Tucker, Valdez. It would have been great to sign some of those guys long term. It probably was not realistic though. But the concept of letting those guys, all but Tucker, play out their contracts and get nothing for them put us where we are today.
I’d say the Altuve deal was unavoidable, but it’s going to be terribly painful to watch over the next three years. It was not good baseball business. Jose is not putting people in the seats today and he won’t be boosting attendance for the next three years either. I don’t think we’ll hear any Altuve fan boo Altuve, but I’ll guarantee you that a whole lot of us would be very grateful if he retired.
I suspect Yordan will have a shorter career than Altuve, but I’d agree that it’s time now to do one thing or the other with him. And I think we’re better off moving him this winter if moves are still being made. I find it difficult to watch Alvarez play surrounded by so little major league talent. He’s terribly frustrated and now it’s affecting his play.
And yes, move Pena and Brown too. Steven, yes again, both guys would have brought us considerably more talent at the deadline.
Chip, I don’t want Jim Crane to lead though. We know he’s played the game. We know he’s a baseball fan. But this club was much better off before Jim Crane took so active a role in leading baseball operations. I’m sure he’s still hiring and relying on experts in logistics to run his other profitable interests. He should do the same thing with the Astros.
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I think everything comes back to the farm system. The Cardinals are 14 games back in their division, three games above .500, and their fans have a lot to be optimistic about because of the young players in their system. How did they get them? Two first rounders, 3 second rounders, 1 third rounder, an 8th rounder, an 11th rounder form their offense. Of our offense, only Jeremy Pena was drafted by Houston. From the staff you give Luhnow credit for picking Hader, take away credit for trading him, and then give Luhnow more credit for picking Hunter Brown. Maybe a couple guys like Brice Matthews eventually pan out, but our picks have been lousy for a long time. The only way to fix the sinking ship is to fix the farm system and especially do better in the draft.
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dave, Crane has to lead! I teach and train on leadership in business, and as Crane goes, so go the Astros. He leads by hiring good people, giving them solid parameters and resources, and letting them do their jobs. He has to communicate effectively and give them the resources.
Yes, I understand you want him to keep his hands off the business, but he has to put the pieces in place. And to let two guys dangle their way through a season without a clear future is not only senseless, but irresponsible, in my book.
Sure, Devin, the farm system is important, if not critical, but they obviously don’t have the right personnel in place. Tampa Bay does it on a low budget, and they don’t draft high year after year. Other teams do well, too. Yes, we used to draft well, too. Roy Oswalt and Dallas Keuchel are two examples, and there are others.
It all starts with having the right people in place and letting them do their jobs. That works on the field and off the field. The Astros don’t have the right people, and they don’t have the resources they need…at least that’s the view from the outside looking in.
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Chip, does he hire good people and give them the resources they need? I wish I knew what the annual Astro MILP payroll is for scouting, coaching, support staff…and then what we’re spending these days in the analytics cave. Are we still leaders in that regard? I skipped over parameters because we all know Crane’s publicly stated marching orders are every year. It’s not realistic. Which brings us back to resources. Do you think the best GM candidates in MLB will want to work for Crane the owner with his recent history?
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I’m not sure what the answer is or what the answers are. I’m pretty sure the answers are not Jim Crane, Dana Brown and Joe Espada – though the more I look at this team the last couple of seasons the more I think Espada is getting more out of this team than should be expected.
Was Jim Crane just the luckiest owner ever hiring Jeff Luhnow who rebuilt the organization from scratch or was it a result of Crane’s brilliance as a business man? He has not shown that brilliance since the MLB forced him to fire Luhnow and Hinch. I guess I am doubting his ability to point the organization in the right direction. To a lesser degree this is Jerry Jones 2.0 to me. The more he has gotten involved since Luhnow and Hinch left – the more the organization as a whole has slumped. is there a good answer here? Can they rebuild this team without a repeat of the 2011-2014 Death March?I just don’t know.
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I’m not sure what the answer is or what the answers are. I’m pretty sure the answers are not Jim Crane, Dana Brown and Joe Espada – though the more I look at this team the last couple of seasons the more I think Espada is getting more out of this team than should be expected.
Was Jim Crane just the luckiest owner ever hiring Jeff Luhnow who rebuilt the organization from scratch or was it a result of Crane’s brilliance as a business man? He has not shown that brilliance since the MLB forced him to fire Luhnow and Hinch.
I guess I am doubting his ability to point the organization in the right direction. To a lesser degree this is Jerry Jones 2.0 to me. The more he has gotten involved since Luhnow and Hinch left – the more the organization as a whole has slumped.
is there a good answer here? Can they rebuild this team without a repeat of the 2011-2014 Death March?
I just don’t know.
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“I guess I am doubting his ability to point the organization in the right direction.” ~Dan P.
Dan, you’re making my point. It has to start with Crane, so whether or not he can lead is really the question. But if he can’t the team will linger in mediocrity where it is. But, to borrow the words of Zig Ziglar, his lack of leadership is causing this team to be a wandering generality instead of a meanginful specific.
Take a look around MLB and even the NFL. The strong, consistent teams have an owner who leads. Sets the tone, hires good people, gives them the tools to be successful and generally gets out of their way.
It was his decision to fire Click. That one decision may have doomed the rest of this decade to mediocrity. It was his decision to replace him with Brown, who then hired Espada.
If your leader can’t point you in the right direction — as you suggest — the organization is going nowhere. It’s the same in business, sports and life.
P.S. You know I agree with the Jerry Jones 2.0 analysis. I’ve said that out loud a few times in recent years. It’s what happens when you don’t trust your people.
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In the back of my mind I know that Jim Crane is a very successful businessman and to be that he has to hire the right people and give them the tools and the leeway to be successful.
Was letting Click go the wrong thing? Even though they won the 2022 championship under his watch – almost all the critical pieces were from the Luhnow era.
The biggest thing they need to decide is who are they as an organization. If they are not going to re-sign players they need to trade them and get something going forward.
I just don’t know where this is headed – but I’m not optimistic.
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Jim Crane remains the best owner in Astros history, but the fallout from the sign-stealing scandal unfortunately seems to have induced a hands-on involvement.
The core issue is that our scouting department stopped producing elite major-league talent. The last first-round picks to become major contributors were Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker all the way back in 2015. Our second-round draft history is equally barren, dating back to Lance McCullers Jr. in 2012. Drew Gilbert might become an everyday player in San Francisco, but he is no George Springer or Carlos Correa.
This draft drought left our roster highly vulnerable, especially when paired with an inadequate medical department. In 2022, we envisioned a dominant, decade-long rotation of Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, and José Urquidy. Instead, injuries reduced them to shells of their former selves, and Framber left, leaving Hunter Brown as our lone, unexpected frontline starter.
While letting stars walk for nothing hurts, trading them during deep playoff runs was never a viable option. However, the modern baseball landscape has changed. In today’s expanded playoff format, a dozen mediocre teams convince themselves they can contend, driving up the trade value of elite players. Unlike the trades that brought us Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, and Gerrit Cole—which cost us very little major-league talent in hindsight—today’s desperate buyers are willing to surrender top-tier prospects like Franklin Arias.
If I could sit down with Mr. Crane, I would politely urge him to exploit this chaotic market and execute a strategic reset. As Littlefinger said, chaos is a ladder. Climb it.
We have elite stars that other teams would desperately overpay for. Yordan, Hunter and Pena could net an absolute haul of top 10 prospects. Isaac Paredes, Yainer Diaz, and Peter Lambert could bring back high-upside lottery tickets.
By reloading the farm system now, we wouldn’t even have to completely punt on the present. Un-tradeable veterans like Altuve, Imai, Correa and recovering pitchers like Cristian Javier could still keep us competitive in a weak American League if paired with shrewd, bargain-bin acquisitions if some of them rebound. Most importantly, it would lay the foundation for a dominant 2031 Astros team.
The rest of baseball would call it a sell-off. But the league is so mediocre that I would call it a soft reset in an attempt to turn 3 stars in 2026 into 7 stars in 2030.
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It might not take 5 years. Maybe the light bulb in Cam’s head goes on. Why has Brice Matthews hit .106 at home and .260 on the road? If he had road stats all year, he’d be an All Star in centerfield. And if progress continues at the present pace, we’ll see a couple of slick prospects and an arm or two in a couple of years, unrushed by Dana Brown.
Even at my age, I’d much rather go to battle with young, athletic kids and watch them reach towards being a .500 club than continue to see what has transpired over the past three years. Mediocrity is poison. The league could care less about the Astros organization. Let them shout sell off.
Chip, we need a leader that realizes he needs a leader.
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You know, Steve, we talk about the penalties for the cheating a lot less here than other corners of the internet do. One angle we haven’t touched on much is that players have to want to sign with a team. This applies more to free agents than the draft, but in the draft there exists the penalty that failing to sign a top 10 round pick forfeits that round’s slot bonus amount from their bonus pool. After round 10 any bonus over $150k counts against the bonus pool. The MLB draft moves far faster than any other leagues. It’s impossible to negotiate on draft day. Teams are going to have to get a pretty good idea what money it will take to sign a guy beforehand. For the TL:DR; version, it’s possible a lot of guys they are picking are in the money rounds are due to their ability to sign them rather than pure analysis of their talent. I think this is some real fallout.
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I’m sorry when Crane had a GM like Lunhow there was no need to become the Cowboys. Now he has become Jerry Jones. All the bad contracts I believe was because he not only allowed it but he formed a cabal of Jeff Bagwell, Reggie Jackson and Craig Biggio to advise him who to hire and who to give massive contracts to. He hired a very good GM in James Click, who came from a team who didn’t hand out long contracts but continues to be at the top of the league. He likes to land top name FAs to make a splash. The problem is he thinks the team still have the assets to get them. The Astros don’t. Good leaders change with the environment, Crane does not. Please, please, please as a huge fan of your team: hire someone who’s won before. Please hire someone from a team that is not got all the resources, like Tampa, Milwaukee, etc… Please stop trying to be the GM. You have ruined what you had. You have made it a mediocre team. Let someone manage the team to be great again.
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WOW! A bush league error by Espada! Hunter Brown HAS to be removed now.
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I’m on the road Sarge. What did Espada do? Visit the mound twice in the same inning?
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Dan, did you catch Espada’s mistake?
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If both Abreu and Hader were available last night, Bennet Sousa should not have been in the game to start the 8th. Nail down the win instead of thinking about tomorrow. This home stand might be Joe’s defining moment.
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His belief in Sousa has been stronger than mine all year thats for sure.
Another series lost.
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I really don’t want Joe to be our manager next year, but I do feel as if he’s been put into an impossible situation. He just does not have the personnel. At this point, we’re highlighting every potential miscue Joe seems to be making. I’m certainly guilty at times. That vague finger point while bounding out of the dugout Saturday night caused Blubaugh to come in and get an extra out. Maybe Hunter would not have gotten that out. Who knows. Joe’s sin was human error. He was not flying an airplane though. It turned out to be a non-factor.
Last night Rome wrote with quotes from Lopez and Walker and Altuve that they all believe the Astros are a good team. If they really mean it, I can understand. They have to believe it. But alas, they are delusional. The Astros are not a good team. It’s really easy to see. And we’ve all seen plenty. Yet, even after this retched 9 game home stand, we’re still tied for first. We’re in harmony with the West. No team is playing .500 ball.
I sure hope Joe’s family situation is repairable. There is no doubt he’s a decent human being. He’s got one of the most coveted jobs on the planet. But right now, it can’t be much fun. It’s got a wear a man down.
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My brother just texted me that Dana Brown is out.
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Well heck, Jim Crane got Chip’s letter. Chip, let’s see if he finds a real GM, or just cheaps his way through the winter with on hand FO talent.
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I’ve been busy all day catching up. I just read McTaggarts quotes from Crane. He’s going to go with his 3 assistant GM’s and our other leader, Jeff Bagwell. Crane could well be thinking there is no need for a new GM if we’re going to have an extending lock out in 2027. That would be par for the course.
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Dana Brown, Astros part ways
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Wow, can’t believe more people aren’t excited enough to talk about this one. I suspect it’s because we’ve been thinking it a foregone conclusion since before the season started. Report is they told Espada he also won’t return and gave him the choice to stay on or leave.
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And according to reports, Espada is out but chose to stay with the club through the end of the season.
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I, for one, am really surprised that Crane released Brown before the end of the season. However, I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Brown being released. I am of the group that believes Brown has not moved the Astros forward. It is fact that the club has regressed under his tenure. Yes, his purse has been tight. However, we all know Crane will open the purse for the right person.
Then there is Espada. There are stories that he was offered to go home early, or he could stay until the end of the season. My hat is off to him under these particular circumstances. However, I will not give these stories much value until, I read from Mr. Crane, that the stories are factual.
I never wish for someone to lose their job. In these cases, though, both of these gentlemen have made a lot of money. They will not be hurting if they invested wisely.
On my home, listening to the “A Team,” one of them suggested reaching out to…
A.J. Hinch
to become the next GM. It was suggested that Hinch is interested in becoming a GM at some time in the future. In July 2006, Baseball America named him one of baseball’s “10 to watch” in the next 10 years for his promise as a farm director and future general manager.
Is this his time???
Another person to watch is Jeff Luhnow. He is quoted in an interview, with the Athletic, that he is not blackballed, despite the general feeling that he is from around the league, and has stated that three or four owners have contacted him in the recent past about running their teams. Apparently, one of these teams is the Astros as Luhnow stated, in the same interview, that he would be open to returning under certain circumstances.
Just please do not allow Bagwell to dominate the running of the Astros. Please!!
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We can’t do anything but speculate, but I would speculate that Crane didn’t let him go, he just told him he won’t be back, and then Brown made the decision to leave now instead.
I’m really surprised Espada made the decision to play out the string. Maybe he thinks if he can get this team to the playoffs that will make him attractive to another franchise or tighten his resume to become a bench coach again.
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