MLB insider dropped biggest hint yet about Dana Brown's Astros future

In order to save his job, Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown needs to make the playoffs. Brown knows this full well, calling making the playoffs the "end-all, be-all" earlier this month, and then doubled down on the idea that the club will be buyers at this year's trade deadline.

So, regardless of all the arguments that the window has already closed or that buying will only prolong the hurt once the Astros inevitably embrace a rebuild, Brown will buy and try to put forth the best version of the team moving forward. The tragic thing is that it might all be for naught and his future in Houston might already be decided.

That's the scuttlebutt coming from USA Today's MLB insider Bob Nightengale, who reports that rival executives believe that Jim Crane's mind is already made up regarding Brown's future. He doesn't say what the decision Crane came to is, but that statement certainly sounds ominous.

That brings about the question, why let Brown go on this long if he's not going to give him until the end of the season to prove himself?

Jim Crane's Dana Brown decision might be correct, but the Astros deserve a better process

Regardless of who is at the helm, the Astros were always going to be buyers as long as they could squint and see a path to a playoff spot. That's the way Crane rolls; he'll never admit defeat. But if he's already decided to let Brown go, why let him be the man to oversee the spending spree?

That seems like a foolish decision, after all, if Brown is too incompetent to retain, why risk letting him screw up your chance to return to the playoffs, and derail your future in the process?

It's possible that Crane lost faith in Brown after seeing the abysmal results the general manager got from his offseason pitching acquisitions. That's a fair argument, up to a point.

For one thing, Brown didn't have much money to work with, so he needed to roll the dice on some guys who had a low probability of success. There were arguments to be made for the validity of signing Nate Pearson, Ryan Weiss, Christian Roa, and others, but ultimately the chances of success for any of these arms were low.

Brown's big offseason swing was signing Tatsuya Imai, and that looks like a huge mistake. But how much of that can be pinned on Brown? Crane isn't the most hands-off owner in the league, and given the high-profile nature of the signing and the implications for the club's ability to land future Japanese stars, it's hard to imagine him not being involved to some extent.

After all, it was Crane organizing a trip to Japan last year in hopes of establishing a baseball presence in the fertile ground of a country where he already has other business relationships, so it's not hard to speculate that he was pushing to sign Imai.

That brings us to the larger point. Crane likely didn't trust Brown following last year's debacle. That's fine. That's his prerogative, and it makes sense. What doesn't make sense is doubting Brown yet letting him run the offseason, draft, and trade deadline, only to have your mind made up that you're going to let him walk away at season's end.

So it seems like Brown's a goner at the end of the season regardless of what happens. The way his tenure has played out, he probably deserves it. But leaving him in charge of the trade deadline only increases the opportunity that he'll botch it, costing the Astros their playoff hopes and their future.

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