Late last night (or early this morning depending on where you are) many Astros’ fans dreams came true when George Postolos, new team CEO and president, announced that Ed Wade is no longer the General Manager of the Houston Astros. Also gone from the front office? President of Baseball Operations, Tal Smith.

Apparently there was no need for a fireside chat today between Crane and Wade.

Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports:

In a statement released by the club, team president and CEO George Postolos said assistant general manager David Gottfried will serve as interim general manager but is not a candidate for the permanent position.

“With the change in ownership, we would like a fresh start in baseball operations,” Postolos said in the statement. “We have told Ed Wade and Tal Smith that we are making a change. We recognize their dedication to the Houston Astros. We thank each of them for their significant contributions and many years of service to the Astros, and wish them our very best as they pursue new opportunities.

“The search for a new general manager begins immediately. We are searching for a candidate who has the knowledge, skills and experience to build a winner and a strong commitment to player development in order to sustain success. Our goal is to consistently compete for a championship, and we know the first step towards that goal is to develop one of the top farm systems in baseball. We will hire the best candidate available to achieve our goal.”

Tal's Hill in Centerfield at Minute Maid Park

So now that we can officially starting talking GM names, who is on YOUR short list? Mine, not surprisingly is topped by Kim Ng and Andrew Friedman as I’m sure many others are as well. Both Ng and Friedman have a fantastic baseball experience and understand all of the implications of the word “rebuilding” and I think it’s time we had someone in Houston that got it.

My one lingering question…since Tal Smith is gone, do we get to flatten out the damn hill?