Monday, August 13, 2012

Tyler Kepner on Crane and the Astros

The New York Times' Tyler Kepner has a solid piece on Jim Crane and the Astros.

Among the creamy nougat center...

Crane, on the actual housecleaning:
“I went through the whole building. I went through every closet. I hauled 14 trailers of junk out of here, just stuff that had piled up. I said, ‘Why is this here?’ Well, nobody had ever cleaned it out. It needed a housecleaning. I can drive an 18-wheeler, so I can back the truck in there if I have to.”

Ed Wade had the depth charts of all 30 MLB teams on his office wall. Jeff Luhnow took them out:
“That board was in the office that I inherited back in December, and one of the first things I did was ask them to take it out. Depth charts are something that I can get online at the stroke of a button.”

Ultimately, there is a lot in the article that gives some insight into how the Astros are thinking, such as avoiding the idea that players can be hot or cold, potential colors, how long the rebuild might take, and Crane saying "We're bigger than Dallas." Which is awesome.