Keith Bodie firing latest bad move by Houston Astros

The Astros have fired another manager. Citing “philosophical differences”, the club has dismissed Keith Bodie from his managerial duties with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks.

Evan Drellich was the first to report Bodie’s firing on Saturday. Bodie spoke with the Astros beat writer from the Houston Chronicle, and had this to say:

“We don’t have any input (as a minor league manager), so I don’t know how the difference in philosophy — I don’t know where that stems from. Because my philosophy was to get each and every player as good as they can be according to their individual skills, and hopefully that would take them to the next level and ultimately to the big leagues. I thought we did that, and I don’t know how that philosophy differs from what they wanted. In that regard, I’m not sure. I just wished the lines of communication were better so that we understood our objectives more clearly, and evidently I didn’t understand them the way I should have.”

Bodie’s dismissal came as a surprise to many who were close to the Hooks, including Bodie himself.

The firing of Bodie, who spent a total of 16 years in the Astros organization, appears to be just another footnote in a long line of public relations gaffes by the Astros front office. The Astros continue to build a reputation as a heartless organization driven solely by analytics with little regard to the human element.

Winning at the major league level obviously isn’t a priority at this time — as evidenced by playing Jonathan Villar ahead of Marwin Gonzalez and Gregorio Petit. But, suddenly, winning in the minors appears to take precedent. I must have been silly to think player development was supposed to be the biggest concern. General Manager Jeff Luhnow has declined to comment on Bodie’s firing. But his message is clear. It’s my way or the highway.