Houston Astros Must Get Next GM Hire Right After Dana Brown Firing

Following the 2022 season, one in which Houston was crowned World Series champions, this same scenario essentially played out. The things that most stand out from that situation are:

There is no defending the Montero deal. One of the basic tenets of being a GM is never give a journeyman reliever a big contract following a career year that is a massive outlier from career norms. That deal was always going to bust, and the fact that no one around Crane stood up and expressed just how awful an idea that was is mind boggling.

The Abreu contract was understandable, it simply failed. The Cubs had reportedly had an offer on the table to Abreu for 2 years at $20M per. There were upwards of 5 teams bidding on his services. Houston was in desperate need of a 1B, and their top choice ( Anthony Rizzo ) re-signed with the Yankees . Crane pushed in, and went to 3 years at the same $20M per to make sure he won the bid. No one expected Abreu to fall off as sharply as he did, but such are the risks of signing older players.