Mike Burrows’ massive struggles should have Astros realizing uncomfortable truth

For those Houston Astros fans who thought that Mike Burrows was finally turning a corner, you may want to brace for disappointment. Burrows took the mound for the Astros on Sunday, and thanks to his ongoing home run issues and inability to land a quality fastball for a strike, Burrows gave up five runs (four earned) over five innings of work with just three strikeouts to his name. The offense apparently took the day off, and Houston went down with a whimper.

That Burrows struggled again isn't really news at this point. Multiple adjustments so far have failed to yield much when it comes to lasting results for Burrows. However, that the Burrows trade seems to be a failure at the moment may speak more to the fact that the Astros simply don't have the same magic touch that they once did, and there are good reasons for that.

Astros' brain drain over time has cost them their familiar organizational mystique

Now, if Burrows crashing and burning were an isolated incident, this would be a different conversation. Every team has misses on moves, including important ones. You think the Mets are currently happy with how signing Bo Bichette is going right now? However, like the Mets, Burrows not performing may actually be a symptom of a much larger problem.

Some front office turnover is to be expected under normal circumstances. Good teams lose quality personnel to other teams who want to replicate that success. However, between the shake-up following the Astros' sign-stealing scandal as well as the James Click-Jim Crane fiasco, the Astros have lost more than many orgs over the last several years. Some of Houston's best and brightest minds are now working with the Braves (Mike Fast), Orioles (Mike Elias), and Blue Jays (Click). Hell, even AJ Hinch has moved on after being lauded for (most of) his work as manager, although the Tigers aren't exactly doing great at the moment.

At some point, the Astros just don't have the clever answers anymore. They were able to go out and fix Yusei Kikuchi a couple of years ago, and that was fun, but when was the last time that the Astros made a move and the player they added was appreciably better after joining the organization? It isn't an easy list to make.

Some of this is just the natural order of things. The best and brightest find themselves with better opportunities elsewhere, especially when they can't move up because of entrenched leadership positions. However, it is becoming clear that while the organization that Dana Brown has built around him has some strengths, the same Astros magic just isn't there anymore.

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