Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown won't get the axe with the team falling significantly below expectations to start the 2024 MLB season, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Nightengale reported Sunday that "Brown's job is safe" with two years left on his current contract.

The Astros are third in the American League West at 32-39. They're nine games back of the first-place Seattle Mariners and trail the Minnesota Twins by 6.5 games for the final wild-card spot.

Beyond its record, José Abreu's release symbolized how Houston has drifted from the team-building strategies that served it so well under previous regimes.

Abreu was a shell of his former MVP self after signing with the Astros ahead of the 2023 season. Josh Hader, who's in the first year of his five-year, $95 million deal, has a 3.82 ERA through 29 appearances. Fellow reliever Rafael Montero, who's due to earn another $11.5 million in 2025, is a sunk cost at this point.

If you were to ask fans who's to blame for the Astros' present situation, though, few would put the general manager at the top of the list. They might even question Brown's actual culpability in putting this squad together despite being the GM.

Before Brown was even hired, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported in November 2022 how team owner Jim Crane was exerting more influence over front office matters, drawing a comparison to Dallas Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones. Crane also sought the input of more "baseball men" instead of the analytically driven personnel who had largely come to populate the organization.

Hall of Fame first baseman Jeff Bagwell, who became a senior advisor to ownership and baseball operations in April 2023, has become a key figure in that shift.

Will Kunkel @WillKunkelFOX

🤨Is Jeff Bagwell, the greatest Astros player of all-time, ruining his legacy in Houston?<br><br>😡<a href="">@BLima790</a>: "Yes. Absolutely!"<br><br>"He is making moves, or going to whoever will listen to him and forcing moves that should NOT be made!"<br><br>👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 <a href="">

Jeremy Branham @JeremyBranham

Jim Crane is Jerry Jones, and Jeff Bagwell is Jack Easterby. <a href="">

To that end, firing Brown might bring even more scrutiny upon Crane. It would almost assuredly be read by many within the fanbase as the owner scapegoating the general manager. There would be even more questions about who's running the front office too.

Plus, making a midseason GM change isn't the thing that's going to turn the Astros' fortunes around, unless Brown's replacement could explain why Alex Bregman is slugging .405 or provide a magical elixir for a pitching staff that has been hammered by injuries.