Monday Morning Link Dump

While You Were Drinking: here's your Monday Morning Link Dump...

The Astros are beginning the managerial search immediately. Meanwhile, minor league hitting instructor Ty Van Burkleo is the interim hitting coach, and special assistant to the GM Dan Radison (formerly in the Cardinals' organization) is the interim first-base coach.

The hope is to have a manager in place by November, and a short list of names has already been compiled.

Luhnow, on the timing:
"It was about a week ago that we made a decision that we weren't going to renew Brad for next year," Luhnow said. "Once that decision was made, in thinking through the logic, it made sense to make these changes sooner rather than later, not have a lame-duck administration really."

Brad Mills seemed to be relieved by his firing.

Luhnow:
But there's something to be said for sticking to a plan. And sometimes sticking to it can be harder than figuring out what the right plan is."

Dierker:
"I like the philosophy. I wholeheartedly endorse the process. I don't know if it will work. (Luhnow) doesn't know if it will work. It all depends on if these guys get better. If they already were better, you couldn't get three of them for one major league player."

Jeff Gordon, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, of course, had some things to say. When he quoted DeFrancesco's desire to help move the Astros in the right direction:
Yeah, well, good luck with that. Real progress is at least a few years away.

Maury Brown has a post in Baseball Prospectus about Jim Crane, the Astros, and payroll:
What the Astros really are is three seasons into a five-year rebuilding plan that’s certainly going to need more than five years to come to fruition...