In my opinion, the modern GM needs to come from an elite school (Sorry, Rice doesn’t count) and have a strong quant background. Dana Brown didn’t have that background, so I had a built in bias against him. However, Brown’s tenure as the Astros GM has been surprisingly successful. His ability to identify talent was his calling card, and he has used it effectively to help Houston maintain its status as a playoff roster.
Yes, the major league roster was stacked when Dana Brown took over after 2022; however, the farm system was barren and most fans and pundits had concerns that the Astros would have a hard time replacing lost talent.