Astros, Baker reportedly in contract talks

HOUSTON — Dusty Baker is working to finalize an agreement to become manager of the Houston Astros, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been completed.

The 70-year-old Baker becomes the oldest manager in the big leagues. He takes over from AJ Hinch, who was fired Jan. 13 just an hour after he was suspended for the season by Major League Baseball for his role in Houston’s sign-stealing scandal.

Baker’s hiring is a sign the AL champions want to bring an old-school mentality and stern presence to a

Baker franchise reeling from the dismissal of Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. Baker has 22 years of managerial experience, starting in 1993 with the San Francisco Giants.

A three-time National League Manager of the Year, Baker last managed the Washington Nationals, who let him go after a 97-65 season in 2017.

Since 2018 Baker has served as a special adviser to Giants CEO

Larry Baer, working in both the baseball and business operations of the club. He regularly attended son Darren’s college games at the University of California in Berkeley.

“Dusty has a unique and proven ability to connect with players, be a step ahead with game strategy and provide superior leadership, as he did here for 10 years,” Baer said.

Now Baker will chase his first title as a manager with a team that returns the bulk of its roster from last year that reached the World Series for the second time in three years before losing to the Nationals.

It’s a chance he wondered if he’d ever get. He spoke to The Associated Press about it in 2018 after he left the Nationals.

“Do you ever make peace with it?” he asked then. “You make peace but it makes you kind of lose some faith in mankind, between right and wrong. And you realize in the world, especially in this new world, there’s always been discrimination, race discrimination, but it seems like in this new world there’s age and salary discrimination, which go hand in hand.”

His hiring is a stark departure from the youth-oriented recent history of the Astros, who hired Hinch when he was just 41.