Let’s break down the roster so you can tell me where Dana Brown fucked up:
Catcher: Diaz was already in place and he signed Caratini who has outperformed his contract so far.
IF: Crane & Cronies signed Jose Abreu to replace Gurriel last season. Altuve, Pena, Bregman, and Dubon were entrenched. Singleton was named the 12th guy and has thrived since being promoted to the everyday 1B job. Kessinger was named the 13th guy and has barely played. Bregman and Abreu suck but everybody else has been good.
OF: Tucker, McCormick, and Alvarez were entrenched. Meyers was named the starting CF and has played well. Loperfido and Cabbage have come up from the minors and it’s too early to tell. McCormick has been shitty and hurt but everybody else has been good.
SP: The Astros went into spring training with Verlander (a Crane & Cronies trade), Valdez, Javier, Urquidy, Hunter Brown, and France as healthy experienced SP. Dana Brown identified Blanco as a potential starter and stretched him out. They also had Arrighetti and Bielak who they figured could help in an emergency, with Bielak out of options. Thats 9 guys. Verlander, Valdez, Javier, Urquidy, and France have been hurt. Hunter Brown sucked balls. Arrighetti and Henley got thrust into the mix and sucked, although Arrighetti’s underlying numbers were much better. Brown, France, and Arrighetti have combined to go 0-11. The guy Dana Brown had the most influence over getting into the rotation (Blanco), is 4-0. Verlander has a FIP of 6.07.
RP: Hader was a Crane & Cronies move. Pressly, Abreu, and Montero were entrenched. Dana Brown added Tayler Scott (2.65 era) and kept Seth Martinez (1.80 era). He called up Shawn Dubin who has had awful luck (7.59 era vs 3.06 FIP). His AAAA depth (Kuhnel, Diaz, Coleman, Suero) that was never meant to be a factor outside of a rash of injuries has pitched a total of 4 innings and led to one loss.
The payroll was maxed out when he was hired, Crane relented to go over the limit for Verlander and Hader, but those were not Dana Brown’s decisions. So what exactly are you saying Brown fucked up on the roster? Should he have predicted Abreu’s death and traded him in the offseason as a pure salary dump (something Crane would likely not have approved)? Should he have traded Bregman?! Show me the league minimum free agent bat he should have brought into the bench who could have hit well playing 1B/OF. Should Dana Brown have known that Hunter Brown would pitch like an aborted fetus? Should he have known FIVE guys in his rotation would be added to the 2 already on the IL?!? If he had known, wtf should he have done about it given he had no money and no prospects?! Should Dana Brown have quit over the Crane-led Hader signing? Should he have predicted that Hader, Abreu, and Pressly ALL THREE would melt down throughout April?!?! If so, what could he have done about it?
Dana Brown might be a shitty GM. But there’s no way to know that yet and this teams problems were wholly unpredictable, outside of maybe seeing the writing on the wall with Jose Abreu, which they seem to have managed well since the backup they had is hitting well on his place.