Astros remove GM Dana Brown midway through playoff race in shockingly timed move

Fresh off only taking three wins of a nine-game home stand that included games against the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, and the Athletics, Houston Astros owner Jim Crane has decided that now is the time to make a change at general manager.

With less than two months to go in the regular season, and the Astros currently sitting in first place in the American League West, the team announced on Monday that they have parted ways with general manager Dana Brown.

Astros cater to months of speculation, part ways with Dana Brown

Dating back to the end of the offseason, Brown's status with the Astros has been a source of speculation. The team dragged their feet in confirming that Brown, and manager Joe Espada, would return for the 2026 season, but did very little to remove the lame-duck status.

Despite everything else that has gone wrong for the Astros earlier this season, falling flat at home appears to have been the final straw for Crane.

The timing of the departure certainly is odd. Again, despite the adversity that the Astros were facing at the start of the season, they have found their way back into contention this season. Even if the American League West is considered the worst division in baseball, the Astros would also be tied for the final Wild Card spot with the Cleveland Guardians if they weren't tied for the division lead. That's generally not the time to part ways with a general manager, even if their fate for the offseason was already decided.

To be clear, very little was going to save Brown's job, but the timing of the move has to be noted. Especially since it was just this weekend that Brown was talking the Astros' plans for September, including the potential return of Carlos Correa.

That said, the writing was on the wall at the trade deadline that Brown may have been on borrowed time with the organization. Crane nixed one trade that Brown had in place with the Minnesota Twins, and the general consensus is that was the primary reason for the lack of activity from the Astros at the deadline. The Astros did make one move for veteran outfielder Daulton Varsho, but they gave a controllable starting pitcher in Spencer Arrighetti to do so.

The math wasn't mathing on Brown's operation after the deadline, so perhaps that is why Crane decided to not push the decision back into the end of the regular season. Along those lines, the statement isn't fooling anyone, Brown was essentially fired.

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