The only thing surprising about the Houston Astros’ decision to fire general manager Dana Brown was the timing.
It was widely expected that after the season that the Astros would fire Brown, who was in the final year of his contract. But team ownership elected to part ways with Brown now, and that surprised plenty of folks across baseball — especially with Houston currently in first place in the American League West. Perhaps it was to get ahead of the search for a new front office leader so they can have a general manager in place for the first day of the offseason and maximize the window until Major League Baseball locks out the players and shuts down free agency.
Nobody but Jim Crane knows the answer to that, and until he speaks to the media, those questions will be left unanswered.
What Dana Brown firing means for Joe Espada's future with Astros
But what we know for sure is that this decision places an even bigger target on the back of manager Joe Espada, who is also in the final year of his contract. New front office leaders almost always want their own managers in place, which would seem to indicate this will be Espada’s last season as manager of the Astros regardless of what happens over the next two months. For now, however, Houston continues to insist that he will be the manager through the 2026 season and guide the team into the postseason for one last run.
After that, however, all bets are off. But the industry expectation remains that Espada will not be in Houston after 2026.
Potential Dana Brown replacements as Astros eye front office change
So who might replace Brown? There are numerous different options that the Astros can and ultimately will consider. But their best options likely will reside with the Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported on Monday.
The Brewers, in particular, are interesting. They have multiple former general managers, Matt Klentak and Billy Eppler, who are currently in the front office, and both have earned rave reviews from their work in Milwaukee. Another name to keep an eye on is Matt Kleine, a prominent member of the Brewers front office who has worked heavily in trade and free agent negotiations.
Kleine worked closely with David Stearns in Milwaukee and Stearns, of course, came up with the Astros and supposedly has a strong relationship with owner Jim Crane. It’s possible that Stearns could endorse Kleine, but it also wouldn’t be surprising if Stearns wanted Kleine as his general manager with the Mets. Either way, Kleine is a name who has drawn plenty of attention from folks across baseball. It would hardly be surprising to hear him garnering general manager buzz once again this winter.
It’s unclear when the Astros will begin searching for a new front office leader, but the educated guess is that it happens sometime soon to get a head start on other teams in the market. And one thing to watch now: With the A’s and now Houston looking for new front office heads, could other teams on the bubble part with their current leaders so they don’t lose out on the top options?
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