Houston Astros: Dana Brown announced as new general manager

After winning the World Series and the subsequent departure of former GM James Click, the Houston Astros have finally found their new general manager.

The Houston Astros have announced their new general manager: Dana Brown

Brown has spent four seasons with the Atlanta Braves organization, serving as the Vice President of Scouting. He was an important part of Atlanta’s success from 2019 to 2022. The Braves won the National League East division title five straight years (2018-2022), including a World Series championship in 2021. Brown was also the engine of drafting young and talented prospects, including Michael Harris II, Spencer Strider, and Vaughn Grissom. Harris II would become the 2022 NL Rookie of the Year, Strider placed second behind Harris II for NL Rookie of the Year, and Grissom is a rising star, replacing Dansby Swanson at shortstop.

Others have also forgotten that he drafted the fourth-ranked prospect in 2021, catcher Shea Langeliers. However, Langeliers was the centerpiece for the Matt Olson trade.

Brown has also served different roles for many other organizations. He served as a director of scouting for the Expos/Nationals from 2001-2009, and helped the organization draft notable players such as Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, and Stephen Strasburg. After leaving Washington, Brown joined the Blue Jays organization and served as the special assistant to the general manager from 2010-2018.

This is a huge loss for the Atlanta Braves organization. However, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has praised Brown’s success for discovering underestimated talent and, even though Anthopoulos never wants to replace members of his front office, he still vouched for Brown’s talents as rumors began to swirl about him getting the job in Houston.

On the other hand, this is a huge win for the Houston Astros organization. According to MLB.com, Houston’s farm system ranks 29th in Major League Baseball. That doesn’t seem like a good ranking currently, but Houston’s player development staff has done a great job in the past of building up those prospects like Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Hunter Brown, and many more. Brown also has an opportunity to give guys like Kyle Tucker, Javier, and Valdez a contract extension before they hit free agency in their respective years.

With Brown’s brilliant mindset of locating young prospects, and being the wing man for Anthopoulos for the past four years watching every transaction and extension he has made, I believe the championship window for the Astros has notably expanded.