[Premium Post] As you might imagine, I do a lot of deep philosophical thinking about psychology, leadership, and greatness. When individuals experience success, they often fall into the trap of thinking that they have superior talents than others. What more than likely led to their success was a confluence of things: 1) Process and consistency; 2) Some good fortune (extraordinarily well-timed clutch hits in the playoffs, Pena and Javier playing well above expectations); and 3) Motivation. Motivation falls off fast after a World Series win. I knew this would be a challenge for the Astros this season. Mean reversion has happened for some players, like our pitching staff and Pena. And somehow we adjusted our process to move away from rigorous data analytics and towards the moronic Bagwell/Dusty system of "gut and observation". This last point is the most aggravating. Old schoolers like these two believe that they are exempt from change because of their (long ago) past successes. This is a form of denial and opens the door wide for teams that embrace change and analytics and enables them to pass us by. Which is what we are seeing. Oh, and benching Yainer and McCormick is absurdly stupid. These are two of the top 20 OPS hitters in all of MLB. It would be similar to platooning Austin Riley, Julio Rodriguez, or Jose Ramirez. GOOD DAY
These are just my personal thoughts. Before I start, I like Jim Crane and cant imagine someone else who could have done better up to this point (last off-season actually). But the best of them can get off track, take poor advice and make bad decisions. Crane without doubt was at his best with Luhnow under him. Slightly less so with Click. A lot less so when acting as president himself. Seemingly, Crane needs a strong hand working with him at the top level. Dana Brown strikes me as a Yes man and dare not challenge Crane on important matters. Perhaps some of it was Crane was a victim of circumstance (Dusty and Click). Perhaps he has a micro-management issue. Perhaps the FO table was already set for 2023 and there wasnt a whole lot he could do. But the off-season was a disaster. I wonder what this coming one will be like? A couple courses come to mind. 1) He hires a REAL president, a guy who has been around and is respected and Crane takes a step back to where he was with Luhnow. 2) He does the obvious (new coach), perhaps a change in who he takes advice from. But keeps the current FO structure. 3) Something in-between. Hires a Yes man president for appearances. Keeps Dusty. Doubles down on micro-managing everything. Handles the off-season himself again, but does a better job of it this time. In conclusion, one thing is for sure. The winds of change are coming. What is left is what form it will take.
Sig Mejdal is the Real Genius behind Jeff Luhnow. Give Sig a Blank Check Maybe Sig Mejdal still has bad Feelings the way Jeff Luhnow was Fired. Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal really left so quick after.
