Astros’ success on the field belies some unrest

You wouldn’t know it by watching them on the field this season, but the Houston Astros are a team dealing with turmoil. General manager James Click and manager Dusty Baker are working without contracts for next season, and within the industry, the assumption is Click will not be retained because of a festering personality conflict with owner Jim Crane.

Click was hired away from the Rays after GM Jeff Luhnow was fired in 2020 following Major League Baseball’s investigation into sign stealing by the 2017 Astros. Under difficult circumstances, Click has maintained Houston’s position as one of the best teams in the game despite star players such as Carlos Correa and George Springer leaving as free agents.

The Astros were 29-31 in 2020 but advanced to the American League Championship Series before falling in a seven-game series against the Rays. Houston is 201-123 since and has won two pennants. That would usually lead to a lucrative extension for an executive, but the tension within the front office has only gotten worse, according to team insiders, with Crane feeling he has not gotten enough credit for the team’s success.

Crane spoke briefly to reporters before Game 3 of the ALCS. He was sparing in his comments about Click.

“James is doing fine,” Crane said. “We’ve got to finish up this season. He’s done a good job.”

Winning 201 games and two pennants over two seasons would seem to be better than “doing fine.”

Crane refused to comment further and later told the New York Post he would decide the future of Baker and Click after the playoffs.

Click has steadfastly refused to comment on the situation this month, saying the focus should be on the field.

Baker also has evaded questions about whether he will return.

“I don’t want to be a distraction to my team,” he said. “I’ll let you know at the end of this year.”

That’s a departure from his usual eagerness to be on the bench.

Baker was a wise choice to replace A.J. Hinch, who was fired along with Luhnow. Baker’s presence, at least to some degree, softened the anger directed at the franchise over the cheating in 2017.

“Try to deflect as much as I could away from them, and also to not have to talk about it all the time,” Baker said. “Also to ask the world for forgiveness that we didn’t get much of, but you still ask for it, and then you forgive yourself if you are guilty.”

But Baker is 73, and if the Astros win the Series, that’s a perfect off-ramp from a career that is sure to be recognized with a Hall of Fame plaque.

“I mean, my future is now,” Baker said. “My future is today. I’m not really worried about my future, because I’m just glad to — after having cancer and having a stroke — I’m just glad to be here today and watch the sun come up every day.”

Baker’s reluctance to commit to managing beyond this season could be the result of what are described as “philosophical differences” working with Click.

Crane hired Baker on Jan. 29, 2020. Click was hired a week later. Click is a Yale graduate who wrote for Baseball Prospectus before joining the Rays and working his way up — basically the same path Chaim Bloom took to the Red Sox.

As the Astros have gone through the playoffs, assistant GM Pete Putila left the organization to join the Giants as their GM and work under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

A second key executive, international cross-checker Oz Ocampo, was hired Thursday by the Marlins to become an assistant GM under Kim Ng. In two stints with the Astros, Ocampo has been crucial in their success scouting amateurs in Latin America.

He was behind the signings of Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy, and Framber Valdez.

It seems strange, a team in the World Series having so much turnover and dissension. But the Astros have, so far, made it work.