The professional sports team in the city of Houston, since the turn of the century, that has experienced the most success is, without a doubt, the Houston Astros. Two World Series titles, seven straight ALCS appearances from 2017 through 2023, and countless big moments back up that very easy assertion.
The glory days, though, seem to be over to where, not only so the Astros feel like the least likely title contender of the big three teams in town (Texans, Rockets, Astros), but they also feel like the least stable. Since January 2021, the Texans and Rockets have had the same general manager. After firing Dana Brown on Monday, the Astros are now looking for their third GM since firing Jeff Luhnow in January 2020. This doesn’t even account for the strange period from November 2022 through February 2023 where Jim Crane and Jeff Bagwell were playing make-believe GM, and spending disgusting amounts of money on bad players.
There was a time when the Astros’ GM job might have been one of the most coveted in the sport, with a robust farm system and bright future, and while Jim Crane is still willing to spend more open payroll than most other MLB owners, the state of the franchise currently begs the question — is the Astros’ GM job even a good job anymore?
I would suggest that it is not, and here’s why:
5. Meddling ownership
Jim Crane is more involved in baseball decisions than most owners, especially major decisions. At times, this can be the catalyst to greatness, like in 2017 and 2019, when Crane spearheaded the pursuit of Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke. At times, though, it can be catastrophic, like signing Jose Abreu. Either way, Crane, at times, seems to impose moves on his GM that might not otherwise occur. One example is the awful $54 million signing of Tatsuya Imai, which seems to have been led by Crane with involvement from ballpark sponsor Daikin Park, a company based in Imai’s home country of Japan.
4. Barren farm system
There was a time when the Astros’ farm system was the envy of baseball, when they were cashing in on high picks, and bringing in the likes of Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and Kyle Tucker. The system took a hit as the team made big trades through the years, but that’s okay. The problem is that the system has never been built back up, despite the hiring of Dana Brown, whose scouting background was supposed to replenish the farm. Despite being several drafts removed from the 2020 and 2021 punishment for the sign stealing scandal, where the Astros forfeited their first and second round picks in both drafts, the Astros still are evaluated as a bottom five farm system.
3. Aging Altuve contract
There’s not a single sane person that doesn’t love Jose Altuve. (I use the “sane” caveat, because Yankees fans despise Altuve. They are not sane.) In fact, with Dolly Parton’s passing earlier this week, Altuve is now my favorite celebrity ion the planet. When Jim Crane decided to give Altuve a five year, $150 million extension at age 34, I knew the deal wouldn’t age well, but I understood why he did the deal. That’s just me. I’m a fan. I’m not a GM who has to deal with the reality of a clearly aging player making $30 million in 2027 (assuming there’s a season, work stoppage pending and all). Altuve’s performance this season, while better of late, has fallen far shirt of “worth the money” statistically.
2. Hunter and Pena are on the clock for free agency
You can withstand some under-performance from aging stars, though, when your younger, cost-controlled players are over-performing. Over the last couple seasons, Jeremy Pena and Hunter Brown have given the Astros a ton of bang for the buck, as both made the All Star team in 2025, and they’ve been important fixtures in 2026. Each of them debuted in 2022. Pena and Brown have a lot in common. The one thing they also have in common is that neither have made any indication that they currently plan to sign long term in Houston. Pena is a free agent after 2027, and Brown after 2028. With the aforementioned barren farm system not yielding any imminent replacements for either one, this is a problem.
- Jeff Bagwell’s presence
We’ll close out the list the same way it started — by discussing the overload of cooks in the kitchen for a new general manager. Jim Crane, as mentioned, is one of those cooks, but he’s the owner. You can’t really do much about that. However, Jeff Bagwell, a franchise icon, has the ear of Crane in a “special adviser” role, and wields a lot of influence, according to those with knowledge of the team’s inner workings. Bagwell’s growing voice explains some of why the team seems to have strayed from the analytics roots that brought home two World Series titles. Finding a GM who (a) believes in analytics and (b) doesn’t want someone with a special title checking their work.
