Successful Hinch could be in demand
Astros manager likes Houston but may listen to offers.
The immediate success of Astros manager A.J. Hinch in his second go-round as manager and his ability to bridge the gap from field to front office in the age of analytics could prompt other clubs to try to hire him as early as this offseason.
Hinch is under contract and could not interview anywhere else unless the Astros grant permission, and there’s no indication that Hinch wants to leave or that other teams are currently pursuing him.
But one high-profile job that just came open could bring intrigue.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Don Mattingly on Thursday agreed to part ways, a move that was expected after the Dodgers again failed to advance far into the playoffs.
As the Dodgers search for a new manager, it’s easy to imagine they would at least discuss the possibility of prying away Hinch, who is one of the leading candidates for AL manager of the year.
The Dodgers expect to field a younger team next season, and that could play into the decision.
“It’s hard to say exactly the type of person, but I do think somebody that’s a teacher and a leader and somebody that can help guys get over the hump to the big leagues,” Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said Thursday.
Although the Dodgers operate with a much bigger payroll than the Astros in one of the largest markets, the teams’ front offices have similarly progressive mindsets. Houston native Andrew Friedman, who was the architect of the small-market Tampa Bay Rays’ success, runs the Dodgers as their president of baseball operations and said he wants a manager in place by the winter meetings.
There’s already familiarity with the Dodgers’ executives, and that goes beyond interactions Hinch had when he was an assistant general manager for the Padres.
Hinch is close with one of Friedman’s right-hand men, Josh Byrnes, the Dodgers’ senior vice president of baseball operations. Byrnes hired Hinch as the Diamondbacks’ manager in 2009.
Wants to stay put
Asked whether he expected other teams to reach out to him — or if they already have — Hinch said all has been quiet and that he wants to stay in a job he loves with the Astros.
The 41-year-old manager also said he did not want to feed the rumor mill.
“I am happy with what we built here, and I enjoy the relationships I’ve developed with our players,” Hinch said.
Friedman said his club is looking for someone to create “a really strong environment for our players to succeed in,” an area in which Hinch excelled in 2015, considering the change in the Astros from October 2014, when he was introduced.
Zaidi trumpeted open-mindedness and an exchange of thoughts.
“It’s overly simplistic” to say that data usage is important to the hire, Friedman said. “For us, it’s a balance of information. Some of it is objective, and some of it is observational, and it all goes into the process of making decisions.
“To cast as wide a net, to have as thorough a process as we want to ... we’re going to go into it with a really open mind.”
In Houston, Hinch and his staff led a winner and created a comfortable dynamic in which the front office and the players have not always spoken the same language but goals were still exceeded and little to nothing was lost in translation.
At the least, outside interest could gain Hinch more security in Houston, with a longer contract or higher pay or both. The length of Hinch’s contract isn’t public knowledge. He has said a CBSsports. com report that his deal is for three years and a club option is inaccurate. Hinch signed a multiyear deal when he joined the Astros, but his contract isn’t believed to span many years.
He had shortcomings in his time with the Diamondbacks. But when he was hired in 2009, he was behind the 8-ball from the start as a young manager with no previous coaching or managing experience — just playing experience. That was essentially unheard of.
Six years later, those hires are more and more common, and Hinch has evolved. He and Byrnes worked side-by-side again in the Padres’ front office until both left last season.
A lot to consider
The Astros could stand in Hinch’s way if an appealing outside opportunity comes up, as the Blue Jays did when the Red Sox wanted to hire away then-manager John Farrell after the 2011 season. But doing so probably wouldn’t be productive for either side.
At the same time, if Hinch’s name enters the mix for another gig, he might feel a duty to stick in Houston, by his players and his GM, Jeff Luhnow, after they combined in 2015 to push Kansas City to a five-game AL Division Series.
The Astros went 86-76, a 16-win improvement from the year before, and took the AL’s last wildcard spot in a season in which just getting to .500 would have been considered a success by many.
The Dodgers aren’t the only ones searching for a manager.
From the Diamondbacks days, Hinch worked with current Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, who is searching for a manager but seems to be targeting a more veteran group.