From the unsurprising-yet-still-damn-unfortunate file comes a tweet this morning from Bob Elliott:
Jays give Houston Astros permission to interview broadcaster Alan Ashby, a Houston resident, for one of their 3 vacancies
— bob elliott (@elliottbaseball) December 14, 2012
Given what’s going on in the news this afternoon, I think it would seem pretty seriously hollow to use some of the words we’re used to cavalierly tossing around about petty things like a well-liked broadcaster moving to a different city. So I’ll simply say that with three vacancies to fill, Ashby’s pedigree, his history with the city he still calls home and– if speculation is to be believed– didn’t want to leave in the first place, and the quality of his work, I’d be surprised if he didn’t wind up back in Texas, and if so, it will be an absolute coup for the Astros.
As I wrote on Tuesday, there are a number of excellent internal candidates, none of whom will create a consensus among fans– many of whom already balked at my suggestion that Mike Wilner ought to be next in line, balked at the relatively green Dirk Hayhurst, certainly balked at Gregg Zaun, and suggested that someone from outside the current roster of possibilities should be brought in.
I dunno… what’s Rance Mulliniks doing these days?
