Climbing Tal's Hill » Thad Levine

Astros defining moment rapidly approaching

Alex Sandoval — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:45:44 +0000

Every franchise has moments they look back and can clearly see their path being formed. For the Astros, signing Nolan Ryan, trading for Randy Johnson and acquiring Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are just a few of those moments. The next franchise defining moment may be upon us very soon as Jim Crane has begun searching for his next general manager. Normally, finding a general manager isn’t going to be the flashy organizational move that you’d associate with something so significant but this doesn’t feel like just another hiring. This whole process, since Jim Crane was approved as owner, feels like someone hit the system restore button on your laptop and we are waiting for the factory settings to be setup. I would imagine this is as close to having an expansion franchise without really having one, even more when considering the league change and possible uniform change. So with very little doubt, the first major hiring under Jim Crane will be a historic decision that will either lead the Astros back to relevancy or deeper into obscurity. (more…)

Jim Crane is Cleaning House

Brian Hamilton — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:15:31 +0000

As we here at Climbing Tal’s Hill reported late yesterday, new Astros owner, Jim Crane, has fired President of Baseball Operations, Tal Smith, and General Manager, Ed Wade. Brad Mills has not been fired as George Postolos hinted in his statement yesterday that the new General Manager will have the final say so on the managerial job. That is a very good sign as it means Crane and Postolos are going to allow their GM to do his/her job, which is something Drayton McLane rarely did. These firings come as no surprise as quite frankly, anytime you finish the season with the worst record in club history, drastic changes should be made and jobs should be replaced.

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Jim Crane to meet with Ed Wade on Monday

Alex Sandoval — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:50:10 +0000

Monday will be a huge day for the Astros and their new man in charge. According to Richard Justice, Jim Crane, is having a one of one with current GM Ed Wade. Crane, during his introduction press conference and again in a brief media session during his first official day on the job, mentioned that he would meet with all his staff on an individual basis soon after Thanksgiving. It appears those meetings will begin Monday. Considering the winter meetings are only two weeks away, it wouldn’t shock me to see a decision on Wade’s future come that very same day, if not shortly thereafter. Popular thought has been that Crane has been working behind the scenes to line up potential candidates to replace Wade once the ownership issue was resolved. That day has come and one has to wonder if not for Thanksgiving would Wade already have been dismissed? (more…)