- 15 minutes ago
The Houston Astros made a Friday evening pivot, naming former St. Louis Cardinals executive Randy Flores as their new general manager after talks with Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine fell through. Seth Payne and Brandon Scott (in for Sean Pendergast) break down how the search played out, Jeremy Booth’s reaction, and whether Crane and Jeff Bagwell will actually empower Flores to run the baseball operations department.
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00:00we can open this thing with the surprise of the weekend they snuck this in there Seth and I
00:05I was as shocked as anybody because we had spent the last what three four days talking about how
00:12Matt Klein was going to be the guy who the who the who the Astros hired as their general manager
00:17and no it's going to be Randy Flores a former executive for the St. Louis Cardinals has been
00:24there since 2015 had been their assistant general manager for the last few years this is a last
00:29second pivot but as we're hearing Seth this might actually be the right move for the Astros
00:35even if it's not the move that we thought that they were going to make or the move that they
00:39initially wanted to make yeah and this is uh this is Jeremy Booth on the Extra Bases podcast with
00:45Jason Bristol who's known Randy Flores forever uh Kai explaining the way it all went down where
00:51apparently Jim Crane started calling up other candidates uh who weren't Klein and uh saying
00:58hey would uh we've gone somewhere else Jim Crane started telling people or somebody in the Astros
01:03started telling people as recently as Tuesday that they weren't they'd made a decision but it wasn't
01:08them there's a rule in this game which Jim should know is that you don't call people and tell them
01:14they aren't getting the job to the guy or person you want to get the job is accepted and signed
01:18it
01:19then you tell everybody else they're not getting the job Jim didn't do it that way Jim got on the
01:22phone
01:23and said I made a choice didn't tell him who it was made a choice we're gonna go different direction
01:28Matt Klein in that meantime he recently signed a multi-year extension well yeah 10 minutes ago
01:35it was recent last couple days Matt signs it Mark Atanasio put some ridiculous restrictions on
01:42getting him out of there Matt says I'm staying Jim says I ain't paying that and we move on and
01:46he
01:46arrives somehow whatever happened from there back with Randy I got a guess but this is the one where the
01:53Astros tried to get in their own way and they ended up doing the best thing they could and they
01:56got
01:56Randy Flores yeah and uh Jeremy Booth uh from to his credit from the very beginning he thought that
02:02Randy Flores was the best choice when they went over through all the candidates over the last couple
02:06weeks um and so he was I saw like Astros fans were not happy with this felt like oh man
02:13there's Matt
02:13Klein played us and and that might be the case Matt Klein might have just played the Astros to get
02:18a
02:18better contract with St. Louis or um excuse with Milwaukee but um I I tend to agree with Jeremy
02:25Booth the only thing I'm concerned about is that it feels like for all the reasons that Jeremy
02:31Booth and others liked Randy Flores just he's got that blend of an analytical background but also real
02:37world baseball knowledge and experience and just common sense that do you trust the Astros to be the
02:44ones to really allow him to to run the show or is it going to be this cabal of all
02:50of Jim Crane's
02:51dudes that are kind of cutting him off cutting him off the knees with with the direction he actually
02:56wants to take the team yeah that that was going to be a big question no matter who they hired
03:00though
03:00right Seth like yeah is whoever they hire are they going to empower that person to do the job that
03:07they are essentially being hired to do or is that going to be somebody that has to carry out the
03:12vision of
03:12Jim Crane and company or Jim Crane and his brain trust right and you see Chandler Rome's reporting
03:19in the athletic and this was this was a right in the in the wake of the hiring of of
03:25Klein how he
03:26mentions that or I'm sorry in the hiring of Flores and now I'm getting the names mixed up they hire
03:31Flores but he mentions with Klein that there was either perhaps an a higher salary that was asked for
03:38or or the title of president of baseball operations and you got to wonder like what does that really
03:45mean is that more about a title and an ego or is that like assurance of hey I'm going to
03:50actually
03:50be the person in charge and I'm not going to be answering to the other guy that the you know
03:56the
03:56hall of famer that the owner trusts am I actually the guy who's in charge right yeah does somebody have
04:00veto power over me exactly like who exactly am I going to have to commit do I have to convince
04:05a
04:05committee every single time I have to try to make a move or like am I all of a sudden
04:10going to have
04:10a trade arranged and then it's going to be it's going to be snuffed out because Bagwell or somebody
04:16else doesn't like it I think it's I think it's a fair concern whether Matt Klein played the Astros
04:21or if it was just that they came to some of these philosophical issues that I think lots of GMs
04:26whether
04:27perception is reality so whether it's real or not I think that's the perception around the league
04:31and GMs or potential GMs are going to have that question I think the the two examples I came up
04:37of when when the a team didn't get their initial hire but the guy that they ended up getting second
04:44ended up being way way better where uh the Red Sox wanted Billy Bean and they ended up getting Theo
04:50Epstein and that was like okay who knows maybe Billy Bean with actual money to work with would have
04:55been a whole different story you know and he could have done the same thing with the Red Sox but
04:59it
05:00worked out pretty damn well with Theo Epstein and then the uh the Warriors initially wanted Stan Van
05:04Gundy and then they had to settle for Steve Kerr and that worked out pretty well yeah yeah so uh
05:09that's
05:10all I'm promising right now to Astros fans is that basically uh that this will that that Randy
05:16Flores will be a combination of Theo Epstein and Steve Kerr yeah and I'm not even if he's not I'm
05:22not
05:22here to be a sky is falling you got Randy Flores guy I think it's just it says something to
05:27me more
05:27about the job like is it not shocking that with the Astros success it hasn't been that long since
05:33they were successful right with their success their track record Jim Crane's success you would think
05:38that the Astros would be an attractive job but we were asking that question back when Dana Brown was
05:44first let go and have been asking it ever since like how attractive of a job is this really given
05:50the state of affairs with the roster which we can talk about the roster the farm system but also the
05:55power structure and how much are you really allowed to do your job anyway right I mean you think about
06:02think about uh James Click right a guy who wins a World Series and doesn't have his contract renewed or
06:09is only offered to come back for one season and you know you think about that if you're an up
06:15-and-coming
06:15potential GM you look at at what success looked like for James Click you gotta wonder like how how
06:21successful of a job or how much am I set up to succeed in a job like this so it's
06:26more of the
06:27circumstances around the job and what it says about the first guy or the main guy that it looked
06:31like you wanted perhaps doesn't want the job or didn't really want the job and you end up having
06:36to settle for somebody that you didn't initially want or as Jeremy Booth laid it out somebody you
06:41had already perhaps told wasn't getting the job and that's who you end up with that to me says a
06:47lot
06:47about the state of affairs and how your job is perceived right and there's still another big uh
06:52like it's it's not a minor detail that the Estos don't have a manager right now yeah so that's job
06:57number one now right right and uh you know the guys that were hired on the other front office side
07:03of
07:03things ahead of maybe the perceived uh the belief that they're gonna end up getting Matt Klein I don't
07:10know how much those guys were you know also had input from Matt Klein on it I'd love to know
07:14behind
07:15the scenes if Jim Crane felt like he got like he got hosed by Matt Klein you know like did
07:19he get
07:19double crossed yeah did he shake him down a little bit like yeah like was there a what the hell
07:24moment
07:25and then he and then Jim Crane slammed down his landline Jim Crane's like I had you all on the
07:30red
07:31carpet all on the red carpet in east downtown yeah uh shaking hands with J.J. Watt Brian Chang like
07:39you
07:39weren't a hoe and now here you are I had you out there in front of in front of Billy
07:42Wagner in front of all of
07:44the the Houston greats yeah it was gonna make you a part of the family and this is how you
07:48do me
07:49mm-hmm I could see it I could definitely see that okay so it it leaves a lot of questions
07:55about what
07:56happened with Matt Klein I was telling you this before the show said to me I feel a little bit
08:00bad
08:00for Randy Flores because he didn't even really get no time to get PR like they didn't they didn't even
08:05really give a chance to to kind of boast his name a little bit right it would have been Matt
08:10Klein
08:10everything when did all y'all came down Friday afternoon Friday evening or Friday evening six
08:15o'clock seven o'clock so it'll be like by and large it's dead and people kind of have their
08:19responses
08:19on x and social media and everything yeah but then you're thinking about basketball you're thinking
08:24about college football you're thinking about uh the NFL yesterday Halloween was the next night
08:30oh yeah that's right there's a lot everybody's distracted by Halloween there's a lot going on
08:35merriment I'm telling you I'm telling you so let's bastard kids taking huge handfuls of candy when I
08:40when I clearly said two pieces hey some of the some of the folks in my neighborhood were just really
08:47good with saying hey we ran out oh yeah once the once the greedy kids started to come or if
08:51you
08:52were in a late crowd I mean first come first serve we had one year where we had to we
08:56had to leave
08:57for like an hour and a half during uh during Halloween and I was I like I left the whole
09:02bucket out with a sign saying please just take whatever and uh and I thought you know I knew
09:08how it was going to end but I came back like 10 minutes later because I had forgotten something
09:12and it was gone already yeah I was like the the the rapidity which was somebody just
09:17swooped in and took everything freaked me out a little bit yeah there is an honor code sort of an
09:22honor system of like hey you only gonna grab a couple of pieces of candy because you know
09:26everybody's trying to trick-or-treat yeah but we actually respect the people who don't really want
09:31to be bothered or they're not home they don't want you ringing on their doorbell but they'll
09:35still leave out some kind of little candy display and show the kids some love even though they don't
09:40want to really be bothered I can respect that so we got quite a bit of that it's a good
09:43lesson
09:43to teach your kids yeah you know definitely early age all right so let's let's tell the people a
09:48little bit more about who the Astros did hire I was in with Luke Moore on Saturday talking about this
09:53and and we were getting criticized for for not telling the people enough oh yeah the actual
09:58guy so let's let's let's give them a sense okay Randy Flores 51 years old he had been the assistant
10:05general manager of amateur and pro acquisition for the Cardinals all right he's been an assistant GM
10:12for eight seasons he had been there since 2015 and a full circle moment of course was that he was
10:19the
10:19guy who the Cardinals hired to replace the disgraced executive Chris Correa who had to go to prison
10:28for hacking into the Astros system yeah back in 2013 and 2014 I think he went to prison in maybe
10:352015
10:36around there so uh so yeah that so it's kind of a full circle moment there but that yeah he
10:41wasn't
10:42the guy of anybody who was worried like because you know initially when I looked at the timeline I was
10:45kind of like 2015 wait a wait a second was this guy actually involved in in breaking into ground
10:50control or not uh not according to any kind of legal documents he wasn't no he took over for the
10:55guy as
10:55far as we know he took over for the guy and then he and he cleaned the place up is
10:59what he did yeah
11:00yeah so so so so fair enough so I'm actually good with I put out his resume just to kind
11:06of inform
11:07the people and he is going to speak they're going to introduce him Jim Crane the Astros are going to
11:11introduce their new general manager Randy Flores today at 10 a.m at Dyken Park I'm pretty sure
11:17there'll be plenty of coverage of that in the later shows right here on 95.7 the fam but I
11:22mentioned
11:22his resume just to say he does come from a like you mentioned before a scouting background a player
11:30acquisition background he's been involved in the trade deadline as Jeremy Booth was alluding to
11:36this is not a bad candidate this could very well turn out to be a happy accident so it's not
11:43doom
11:43and gloom because the Astros didn't get their guy I just think it's some insight or or it gives you
11:49a
11:49window into the state of affairs and where the Astros are right now at least in terms of how they're
11:54viewed around Major League Baseball yeah and like and as an organization I think the encouraging thing was
12:00that you know they found with St. Louis they found value outside the early rounds if you take away the
12:08first rounders and whatnot um like they he's that he and his tenure in St. Louis was more productive
12:15than the Astros had been in the same amount of time um he the the part that intrigues me is
12:20I feel
12:20like I just keep wanting somebody that's got some juice to him above and beyond checking all the boxes
12:27from the positions they've had because Jeff look you go back and Luno just had a different kind of
12:33juice to him aside from being an analytics guy he saw the he saw the game differently um he uh
12:39Flores
12:40had built a scouting technology company that 11 MLB teams had used in 2014 it was his on-deck digital
12:47it collected and distributed amateur baseball video for scouts and recruiters and uh by the time he was
12:54hired a year later 11 different teams that subscribed to it so like okay this guy's got he's got some
13:00cojones and he can do something on his own he's not just some guy that's kind of risen the corporate
13:05ladder and checked off boxes here and there and that's where I hope I hope he's got the the cojones
13:11to stand up to various former hall of famers or anybody that's in Jim Crane's at ear at any given
13:17time
13:18and actually have his own vision for the organization yeah and be allowed to to execute it well that's that's
13:24the big part is will he be allowed because I I imagine that you know you get to this position
13:29probably does have the cojones but will it matter and that's what it comes down to for me is is
13:34this
13:34somebody beyond what the resume is and just the the simple conversation I think the big part of it
13:41is is this somebody that can capture the attention and keep the attention of Jim Crane
13:46Jeff Bagwell and company right like it's not just enough that can he do the job
13:51but can he get their respect can he really get their ear to the point to where they have enough
13:57faith in him to carry out whatever vision that is because it almost doesn't matter how good he is
14:03if he's not allowed to be that good right or if he if all he has to do is just
14:08kind of maintain the
14:10status quo so is this somebody beyond is just is he good is he somebody that can capture Jim Crane's
14:16attention and of course Jeff Bagwell's attention because this is a pretty big undertaking massive
14:21undertaking in front of him right a pretty big job you got an aging roster yeah if you got an
14:26aging
14:26roster yeah and a farm system that leaves a lot to be desired all you have to do is restock
14:31the farm
14:32system while simultaneously making the playoffs every year just do it yeah just that's all you that's
14:37all we're asking you to do but but start by hiring a manager do it within the next month or
14:43so try to
14:43get familiar with everybody before say December 1st when everybody's locked out and then we have
14:48to figure that part out which has nothing to do with you by the way nothing to do with your
14:53job
14:53that's way above your head but yeah that looms large as well so that might be a little bit of
14:58a
14:58challenge in your first year as a general manager so do everything you can in a month hire a manager
15:05and let's see if we can try to scale back this aging and underachieving roster that seems to have
15:11hit a ceiling on top of not having the young talent to replenish that so yeah go out there and
15:17be somebody yeah yeah go yeah yeah um that's uh and i'm not uh i'm not as pessimistic as most
15:24about
15:24the the potential work stoppage i just i you know why because i've been lulled into a sense of
15:30complacency it's been it's been since 94 95 since there was a non-covid work stoppage and uh i'm not
15:37i'm not look it's uh these things don't happen anymore they're like world wars yeah it's just
15:42like uh these are a thing of the past we'll be fine well two things third roughly 13 billion dollars
15:48is what the revenue the mlb revenue is projected to be somewhere around there that's what's on the
15:53line pocket change yeah 13 billion dollars they're going to go out there and get that money and then
15:58also attention spans are way different than they were in 1994 1995 i don't feel like you can really
16:04afford to be gone for so long right like you could back then and maybe we'll come back no we
16:09will
16:10easily find something else to do oh yeah you're going for a long time i just i might be into
16:14pokemon
16:14or something by the time baseball comes back pokemon the next marvel three marvel movies might have
16:20come out by then you know we went we went through this with covid in the the no sports during
16:26covid
16:26people got into nfts and uh they quickly got out of nfts yeah for very little money or return on
16:32their investment but uh they they got they came back to baseball nfts and bad documentaries you
16:38don't want to lose baseball doesn't want to lose to those documentaries that should have been
16:41one or two episodes that turned into 13 episodes yeah you got to make your money he is set pain
16:46i am
16:47brandon scott in for sean pendergast
16:49you