MLB insider hints at Astros regime change following first missed playoffs since 2016

For the first time since 2016, the MLB playoffs will be taking place without the Houston Astros among the teams in the field. Despite 118 calendar days in first place in the AL West and a seven-game lead on July 6, an epic second-half collapse will ensure that the team is planning their golf outings instead of plotting their postseason roster.

A lot brought Houston to this point. From questionable offseason decisions to enormous waves of injuries to a trade deadline that looked promising but was ultimately questionable, and finally to a manager who simply ran out of ideas to make the available pieces fit.

The two men responsible for the last two items on the list, general manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada, might just find themselves on the hot seat this offseason. They might not be alone there, either.

MLB insider suspects drastic changes might be made to Astros leadership

USA Today's Bob Nightengale threw out the possibility that Dana Brown and/or Joe Espada might be looking for new employment very soon. Citing an unnamed Astros executive, Nightengale wrote, "One Astros executive, when asked by USA TODAY Sports whether they could be dismissed – with Brown having a club option that has yet to be picked up – simply said that all departments, on the baseball and business side, are currently being evaluated."

The obvious point there is that Brown wouldn't even need to be fired, and instead, owner Jim Crane could simply elect not to exercise his option. In Nightengale's opinion, Espada's standing is even worse than Brown's, though he doesn't explain why and Espada is under contract for 2026 at the very least.

This all jives with Houston radio host Lance Zierlein's prediction from a couple of weeks ago that the duo in charge of the baseball side might be in trouble. At a minimum, the training staff and pitching development people should be given the rash of injuries in general and the epidemic of serious elbow injuries Houston's hurlers have succumbed to over the last few seasons.

Perhaps the biggest nugget, though, is the mystery executive stating that all departments, including the business side, are being looked at.

The Astros made the controversial decision to part ways with stars Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman last offseason and embrace an on-the-fly rebuild of sorts. In the season's early going, the fans did not take to Houston's gambit, and attendance numbers were down.

A lot of that is on Brown, though some falls on the club's marketing department, which might not have done enough to generate excitement about the incoming pieces. Of course, much of that blame falls directly on Jim Crane for not opening up the checkbook for either a Tucker extension, a Bregman reunion, or both.

Of course, the owner won't place the blame directly on his own shoulders, but this all begs the bigger question: what will payroll look like moving forward, and can fans expect even more penny-pinching in the future?

There are a lot of moving parts and not much clarity now, but things can change at breakneck speeds. Over the weeks to come, we'll learn a lot more about who will be leading the Astros going forward, and from there, be able to draw some reasonable conclusions about what the plan for the future may be.

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