I don't know if Biggio would want the job now. I can tell you 15 years ago he had a strong interest but a lot can change in 15 years. I also know for a fact that Biggio called and has kept in contact with Crane since this scandal has broke. Bagwell and Berkman also have been in semi regular contact.
To the last part about Luhnow, that sucks because you know if possible he’s going to want to go to a rival to do as much damage to Astros as possible.
Oh I have no doubt Hinch will have a job in MLB next year. I still think he’s really respected despite the obvious issue. I’ve seen a ton of interest including heavy fan interest from several teams. Most of the crying has been from the Yankees, Dodgers and their fans. The rest of the league seems to be kind of ho hum about it all for the most part with just a smattering of finger pointing.
I don't think he ever was. With the entire country whining about how awful our culture is, I don't think promoting a guy who's been here is something Crane wants to do. I know people like Hinch, I like Hinch, but of all the authority figures involved he was the most at fault IMO. Luhnow was the president or the organization, but he wasn't responsible for maintaining the clubhouse, that's the primary job of a baseball manager. He was the one that should have put his foot down and ended it, something he clearly wanted to do. I can't really blame Crane for wanting a guy who will be more commanding in the clubhouse, even if I may not agree with it.
Did he or did he just say he wanted to end it and really was willing to tolerate it because of baseball code. Consider that his right hand man (Cora) was the chief culprit in all of this. It would have been incredibly easy to tell Cora to knock it off.... but he didn't. He talked about destroying a couple of screens outside the locker room. He could do that but not tell Beltran or another coach to knock it off? That doesn't make sense at all. Hinch had no problem standing up to Giles. So he can stand up to a player when necessary. It is far more likely the front office or owner told Hinch to keep his mouth shut OR Hinch never really had an issue with it until they were caught.
I think its more the latter. Given that most teams have had replay/video-room guys be able to have access to this information for awhile now... it likely was more felt as something that was commonplace, even though banging a freakin trash can would be a really dumb way to go about it. Hinch certainly didn't stop it when he could. The front office should have been more aware of some of the depths this had gotten to, then again they were well aware of the possibility of other teams doing it, and were constantly trying to ensure their signs weren't being stolen.
That's certainly possible, either way it would still be reasonable that Crane would want to bring in a strong seasoned hand from outside the organization to deal with this mess instead of a first time manager that's been here for 2 years. At this point Hinch's personal feelings on the matter aren't really important to us, although the idea that Crane might have been in on it would be.
If Hinch was truly opposed, I think he's smart enough to figure out that he should keep his mouth shut without having front office/owner say it.
I would prefer Espada but Crane already showed by firing Hinch and Luhnow he is playing to the national media and MLB so I expect a "respected" veteran coach. As far as Hinch..... maybe part of the problem is he was making around 800k in 2017 while someone like Beltran who played a big role in this scheme was making 16 million and had a ton of respect in that clubhouse. If a 40 year old hall of fame veteran comes in and says this system is good to go I am not surprised at all that Hinch wasn't comfortable stopping it. Also, Hinch knew winning a World Series means $$$$$ for himself and he got the bigger contract in the 2018 season. I think it is a joke that with all the money in MLB managers are getting such low salaries. I belive even Aaron Boone is getting less than a million bucks a year to manage the Yankees. That job should start at 3 million for even a rookie manager considering all the extra media obligations and cost to live in NYC.
He sucks. He also isn't a hard worker. He wasn't when he was on the Astros either...... everyone thinks he was, but he wasn't. He is arrogant and believes he knows better than everyone else. I wouldn't be shocked if he got the job because Crane wants a connection to the history of the franchise.
That was my general perception of him. Was never impressed by anything he did in Detroit or LAA the last few years. The "connection to the history of the franchise" is neat in theory, but in reality I would hope it has no impact on the hire. Just hire the best guy for the job.
Didn't like how he handled the Astros/Marisnick/Lucroy incident from last season. I don't think our players did either. Would be a bad fit.
There is no one who would make me less excited than Ausmus. He's dead to me after the Marisnick incident.
