Astros Crawfish Potluck: February 1st, 2020

Well, the Astros have their new manager. After a bit of a whirlwind couple of weeks, Crane finally settled on Dusty Baker as the newest skipper for Houston. The move has generated quite a bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth among Astros fans, but I’m personally somewhat more ambivalent.

I know that ambivalence probably places me in the minority, but I just don’t see this as the hiring of a stodgy old man who’s set in his ways and to hell with modern baseball that some fans seem to be making it out to be. A lot of the issues that people are upset about are echoes of a manager from years ago, when he was out in San Francisco or with the Cubs. It’s not that he completely changed, but when he was managing the Nats there was some growth and evolution in his style, and I feel like we’ll see even more of that with the Astros.

Baker has the reputation for being an intelligent manager who can connect with players. I think that connection is something we’ll need after the loss of Hinch, and if he’s intelligent I think he’ll be able to absorb and use the information fed to him in an effective manner. Obviously it won’t be the same as having Hinch at the the helm, who I will miss, but it’s not like he’s going to completely alter the product on the field. I remain optimistic about the 2020 season.

Anyways, enough of my thoughts. As always, feel free to bring any articles, pictures, or whatever to add to the Astros discussion. And here are three questions to get things started this weekend:

1. How much of an effect on the win column do you think a manager has?
2. Who do you think the next GM of the Astros will be?
3. Anyone have plans to head to for Florida for Spring Training?