NEW YORK – Astros owner Jim Crane, speaking to the media for the first time since the club parted ways with general manager Dana Brown on Monday, said Tuesday at Yankee Stadium that he believes the club needed a change, while reiterating that no decision will be made on manager Joe Espada’s future until the season ends. Crane is still confident that the Astros (65-66), who entered Tuesday a half-game behind the first-place Rangers in the American League West, can rally to win the division. And he said the fact that the Astros went 3-6 in a homestand against the Mariners, Angels and A’s last week in Houston had no bearing on the decision to part ways with Brown. “It was a difficult conversation,” Crane said. “They are never easy and I think he was disappointed but he was very professional and handled it accordingly.” Brown, who was hired on January 26, 2023, was in the final year of his contract, along with Espada and the entire coaching staff. Brown’s responsibilities will pass to assistant general managers Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff and senior advisor Jeff Bagwell, with owner Crane overseeing baseball operations during the transition period. Cook and Huff are with the team in New York. “Out of respect for Dana, we thought it was a moment that would give him a little space and to regroup, and he’s a great talent,” Crane said. “He’s been in business for a long time and [this will] Give him a little more time to settle in and get back to work somewhere else.” Crane acknowledged that injuries to the pitching staff have been a major reason the Astros have underperformed this year. Many of Brown’s preseason pitching acquisitions have not worked out, including signing Japanese starter Tatsuya Imai and trading for pitcher Mike Burrows. The Astros were unable to fill their pitching need at the trade deadline. “I think Joe [Espada] He’s doing what he can do with what he has, you know? Crane said. “If you lose three or four starters, you have to fight a lot. So he’s a good manager. He pays attention to things, I just talked to him and today he’s ready to win a game.” Crane did not provide a timeline for how quickly the Astros would like to hire a new general manager, which would be the fourth since he bought the team in 2011. Jeff Luhnow, James Click and Brown were first-time general managers. Luhnow was fired in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal, and Click was not retained after the club won the World Series in 2022. “We’ll take our time,” Crane said. “There’s not much you can do now when everyone is playing, but we’ll see that at the end of the season. We have plenty of time to do it.” Crane could consider Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, who was a finalist for the general manager job before he passed on to Brown and is a close friend of Bagwell. Guardians assistant general manager James Harris and former Giants senior adviser to president of baseball operations Bobby Evans also interviewed for the job before Brown was hired. Crane said Tuesday he values the experience. “We don’t have any candidates right now,” he said. “We haven’t even started looking. Jeff is in the same role he’s always been in. He’s a senior advisor, working with the general managers and myself and helping us when needed.” Crane has said since the beginning of the season that Espada’s status will be evaluated at the end of the season. He met with Espada in his Yankee Stadium office before Tuesday’s game, a meeting Espada said was positive. Espada also addressed the players and thanked them for their support while he is going through a personal issue that caused him to miss Sunday’s game. “I wanted the players to know where my heart is,” Espada said. “I really appreciate how the players care about things beyond baseball. This is a close group. I got a lot of great messages with them and I wanted to share some of my thoughts and I did.”
