Houston Astros eye a bright future as changes sweep the club – MLB
The Houston Astros ended the 2012 Major League Baseball season as one of the worst in the franchise’s history, losing over 100 of their games. The Astros lost 107 games as a whole, which in itself was a record number of defeats in any season.
With the induction of the new general manager Jeff Luhnow, and the manager Brad Mills, the Astros were looking forward to a better performance than the previous year, but nothing of that sort materialized.
As Brad Mills failed to deliver, the Astros decide to fire the manager, necessitating the presence of an interim manager who came in the form of Tony DeFrancesco. As big a challenge as it was for him, especially when the players were not performing up to
the mark, DeFrancesco – nevertheless, accepted the responsibility.
Given the fact that the likes of Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals were there along with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central, not to mention the Houston Astros, DeFrancesco had to radically alter the team.
He tried, and tried his best. However, when the season came to end for him, the Astros had 16-25 record under his aegis. The interim manager, however, hopes he will remain part of the staff in the coming season.
In what capacity, that remains unknown. For now, the Astros have already decided to bring in the Washington Nationals’ base coach Bo Porter as the team manager, while DeFrancesco role – at this point in time, remains uncertain.
"I was comfortable in the clubhouse talking to the players and dealing with Jeff in the front office," DeFrancesco said, referring to general manager Jeff Luhnow. "Everybody's been very warm to me. I'm really proud to be a part of this."
The positive notes, among others, remain two for the Astros. When the season finished, they had successfully eliminated the Milwaukee Brewers from the wild card race with the 2-1 win in the series.
Secondly, the last series that they played against the Cubs, they were once again successful. For Justin Maxwell, it was indeed a great finish.
"The way we finished, we knocked the Brewers out of playoff contention, we really played well these last few weeks," Maxwell said. "If we individually work on the things we know we have to get better at, we're going to be as a better team."
With that, DeFrancesco’s role, however, yet to be determined for the coming year. But DeFrancesco knows the team, and knows it well. In his view, the Astros have made considerable strides already in 2012, especially in defence.
That is what needs to be utilized effectively as the Astros prepare themselves for 2013. The pitching, undeniably , will be their strength. With the Astros all set to be part of the American League, challenges will increase, but DeFrancesco thinks the team
has the capacity to make it big.
"I know Jeff and Jim are going to get some help down the road, get us some power for the American League, and eventually compete and hopefully get into October like everybody else," DeFrancesco said.
Although 2012 might not have been as good as the Houston Astros might have expected, they will obviously try to be a competitive rival in the American League, wherein the presence of the big clubs not only makes it exciting, but also challenging.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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