Houston Astros Add Star Executive to Front Office
These days, most winning teams are built through the farm system. The Houston Astros can appreciate that first-hand, as they've built their current dynasty around homegrown stars such as Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and others.
Thanks to their strong pipeline of talent in the minors, the Astros have been able to effectively replace players who have left in recent seasons like Carlos Correa, George Springer and Gerrit Cole. Houston's well-developed prospects have helped replenish the club at the major-league level and maintain a championship-caliber roster year in and year out.
Fortunately for the Astros, their farm system appears to be in good hands based on their latest addition to the front office.
Beat writer Chandler Rome reported on Tuesday night that Houston is hiring Deric Ladnier to be their new senior director of amateur scouting.
This is a big deal for the Astros, as Ladnier boasts an impressive track record and has already helped build championship contenders with several clubs.
After playing in the minor leagues for the Kansas City Royals from 1985-1991, Ladnier joined the Atlanta Braves' scouting department during their dynastic run in the 1990s. He worked his way up to farm director from 1998-1999, helping the Braves continue their success into the 2000s.
Ladnier then returned to the Royals to be their scouting director from 2000-2008. Kansas City later won back-to-back AL pennants in 2014 and 2015 with several key players that Ladnier helped draft, including franchise cornerstones Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon.
After a stint with the Washington Nationals, Ladnier was the Arizona Diamondbacks' scouting director from 2015-2021. Again, he helped draft several players who sparked the Diamondbacks to the NL pennant in 2023, including 2023 NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll.
In short, Ladnier has enjoyed tremendous success wherever he's gone over the past 25 years. Hopefully that trend continues with Houston, which will need to develop a new wave of talent if it wants to remain competitive for the foreseeable future.
