Oh man. Jim Crane dropped the hammer on Drayton in a Q&A with the Chronicle today.
Go read the interview. Go ahead. I'll wait. Among the things Crane said:
*He was surprised at how terrible the farm system was when he took over.
*Drayton killed the team in 2007 by not signing anyone before the 5th Round.
*He's staying out of Luhnow and Reid Ryan's way.
*"The buck stops with" Crane on the tv deal, but a deal will get done.
11 comments:
No Rockets now half the season is over and no Stro's.
We are very bad. No All Stars. Castro was a token.
I've been a fan since their first game as the .45's.
1st year season ticket holder at Enron, Crawford Boxes.
Haven't been to a game in 4 years. Radio announcers are awful except for Ashby.
Crane isn't making any friends and I'm not changing from Directv. So life goes on w/ the Rangers and soccer.
If you think Castro was a token All-Star you don't watch baseball. He earned his trip.
Noone has mentioned it around here, but the Rockets getting Dwight Howard was probably the best possible thing that could happen for those of us who want to watch baseball. This basketball season won't start without a deal being done.
I'll say it again, man: I like Jim Crane, I like Jeff Luhnow & I like Bo Porter. I believe in the plan & the process.
I think not getting to watch baseball was his point.
I like all of them too. I want us to succeed and yes I watch baseball and Castro isn't an All Star, yet.
I've heard this song and dance before. Our minor league system is in disrepair. Hoping Reid can get us on track.
Yes, it is all about TV. Their awful but their my awful.
Mountaineer,
How is the second best offensive catcher in the AL NOT a legitimate All Star? That's just ignorance talking.
I won't say Castro is not a legitimate all star, given his offense, but defense does count for a lot and he's not that good really at that aspect of being a catcher. It's fair to say he didn't deserve to be an All-Star, I think.
No, its not. Its not at all. WAR accounts for everything, offense, defense, baserunning. His 2.3 ranks second among all AL Catchers, behind only Mauer. He was a legit All-Star - period.
Mountaineer clearly isn't a reader of MILB box scores every morning like many AC readers or s/he wouldn't opine so wrongly about the state of the Astros' minor league system. To say it's in "disrepair" is years removed from reality.
To break down Castro's improvements from last year (there's only an 8 game difference for him comparing games played all of last year to games played so far this season):
Batting: 7.5 runs better (Fangraphs formula for runs above average using wOBA)
Fielding: 5.3 runs better (Fangraphs formula for defensive runs saved above average using UZR)
Among the seven AL catchers who currently qualify for the batting title, Castro currently ranks 3rd in total offense, 4th in defense, and 1st in base running. He's 3rd in walk rate, and 1st in isolated power. (Even I was surprised to see that.)
Yes, he absolutely deserved to be an all-star. Even the national media, who love to find reasons to laugh at Houston these days, made nary a peep about him not deserving to be there.
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