After Three Decades of Waiting, Dana Brown Gets His Shot
Hiring individuals of coloration has been a vexing drawback for M.L.B., which has pipeline packages to encourage variety however can’t demand particular hires by its groups. Brown stated he all the time sensed a sincerity from Selig and his successor, Rob Manfred, who reassured Brown after his spectacular, however unsuccessful, interview with Seattle and congratulated him after his hiring in Houston.
“To be able to hug Manfred and say, ‘Hey, you were right,’ it was unbelievable,” Brown stated. “So you don’t take it lightly because you know there were people throughout your career who were pulling for you, and kept reminding you that, ‘Hey, there’s an opportunity coming.’ And then when you get the opportunity, it’s like: ‘OK, it’s time to roll. It’s time to use everything that I’ve learned and apply it.’”
Brown’s closing flourish in Atlanta was an proprietor’s dream: Not solely did he draft middle fielder Michael Harris II and starter Spencer Strider, who completed first and second in National League voting for the Rookie of the Year Award final season, however each gamers signed long-term contract extensions.
The ability to search out expertise and maintain it would decide Brown’s legacy with the Astros. He has already spearheaded a long-term deal for starter Cristian Javier (5 years, $64 million), and stated he plans to keep in touch with Scott Boras, the agent for the cornerstone infielders Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman. Those gamers may be free brokers after 2024, with outfielder Kyle Tucker and starter Framber Valdez eligible the next 12 months.
Player growth has been crucial for the Astros, who’ve misplaced stars to free company — George Springer, Carlos Correa, Gerrit Cole — however changed them with high-impact prospects. But as a part of their punishment for the sign-stealing scandal, the Astros had been stripped of their prime two draft picks in 2020 and 2021.
If the group withers within the coming years, the lack of these gamers — whoever they could have been — could possibly be an vital motive. In that case, Brown understands, the blame will fall to him. His mandate, his path to a cheerful retirement, is to ensure that by no means occurs.
“People are not going to do the digging and the homework and say, ‘Well, it wasn’t him, there was this gap,’” Brown stated. “They’re just going to say: ‘Oh, you had a good team, and then the team fell down. What happened?’ So I have to fill that gap but without complaint — which I’m fine with. I’ll take the challenge.”
