The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Click out as Astros GM
Astros general manager James Click will not be given a new contract, a highly unusual move that the team announced Friday — just six days after Houston won the World Series.
Click was hired from the Tampa Bay Rays before the 2020 season and appeared increasingly distant from owner Jim Crane.
It’s believed to be the first change in general manager following a World Series title since 1947, when the Yankees’ Larry Macphail was replaced by George Weiss.
The 44-year-old Click said Tuesday at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas that his contract expired Oct. 31 and the situation had not been addressed. He also said that he was given little advance notice of Wednesday’s news conference, where the Astros announced that manager Dusty Baker was coming back on a one-year contract.
Click wouldn’t respond Tuesday when asked by reporters whether he had been offered a oneyear contract. And he answered indirectly when asked whether autonomy over baseball operations was an issue.
“All of us always want to have areas of responsibility in areas that we can call our own, in areas that we can take pride in,” he said. “Inevitably in any of these jobs, these decisions are multimillion-dollar decisions, and ownership is going to be involved. It’s just a question of degree.”
Crane was asked about Click’s status multiple times Wednesday and said the two were in discussions. Crane also was asked how he would evaluate the job Click had done since taking over after Jeff Luhnow was fired in the wake of the team’s sign-stealing scandal.
“We’re going over that,” Crane said. “But I think James has done a good job. He stepped in and made some good moves. We’ll sit down and see where we’re going to end up with James.”
After that, Crane was asked whether he thought the organization was better off now with Click at the helm: “I’ve run a lot of businesses. This one is no different. I’m never satisfied. If I was satisfied maybe we wouldn’t be where we are. But I press everybody to get better from top to bottom ... so I’m always looking to improve and I can improve, the people on my team can improve and the players can improve. So the standard is there for everyone.”
Click spent 14 years with the Rays, starting as a coordinator of baseball operations before becoming the team’s director of baseball research and development and director of baseball operations. He spent three seasons as vice president of baseball operations before Houston hired him.
GOLF Finau shoots a 62 at Houston Open
Tony Finau finished his opening round with a string of birdies and then took the momentum right into Friday, making 10 birdies to match his career low with an 8-under 62 to build a big lead in the Houston Open.
Finau was at his best late in the round at Memorial Park, finishing with three straight birdies. His final shot from light rough left of the 18th fairway still had enough spin to check up about 4 feet from the hole.
He was at 13-under 127 and four shots clear of Patrick Rodgers (63) among early starters.
Alex Noren, part of the three-way tie for the 18hole lead, was at 8 under with three holes to play when bad weather in the forecast stopped play for the rest of Friday. Noren faces a 40-foot eagle putt when play resumes today. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler also was in the late wave and was 5 under through 13 holes.
• Maria Fassi powered her way across the rainsoftened Pelican Golf Club and rode a smooth putting stroke to an 8-under 62, her career low on the LPGA Tour, giving her a two-shot lead in the Pelican Women’s Championship in Belleair, Fla.
This is the final tournament before the leading 60 players qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship with its $7 million purse.
Fassi, the 24-year-old from Mexico, is at No. 72.
Lexi Thompson, Carlota Ciganda and Hyo Joo Kim were among those at 66.
Gaby Lopez opened with a 65, while Nelly Korda was in the group at 66. Lydia Ko, who can clinch LPGA player of the year with a win, was six behind after a 68.
The Pelican Women’s Championship was washed out Thursday because of Tropical Storm Nicole, and was reduced to 54 holes.
PGA Tour Champions points leader Steven Alker shot his second straight bogey-free round at the Charles Schwab Championship, a 7-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington.
Alker made seven birdies at Phoenix Country Club to reach 13 under through two rounds, keeping him comfortably in front of the only player who can overtake him for the Schwab Cup. Harrington also shot 64 and was 12 under, but needs to win and have Alker finish outside the top five to win the PGA Tour Champions season championship.
Retief Goosen shot 64 and was tied for third at 10 under with Brian Gay, who shot 65.
TENNIS U. S. ousted from Billie Jean King Cup
The unheralded Czech Republic upset the United States to reach the Billie Jean King Cup semifinals for the first time in four years.
The Czechs will meet Switzerland today in Glasgow after the Swiss beat Canada 2-1. Fellow group winners Australia and Britain meet in the other semi.
No. 7-ranked Coco Gauff and No. 14 Danielle Collins were expected to roll over the Czechs in their singles but neither could win a set.
Gauff won all three previous matches against Katerina Siniakova but fell 7-6 (1), 6-1. Gauff made 39 unforced errors in her fifth straight singles defeat.
Collins was overwhelmed by Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3. The latter won eight games in a row from 3-1 down.
Vondrousova only recently returned to the tour after six months out following wrist surgery. In her second minor comeback tournament last week in England, she won the singles and doubles and carried the form to Glasgow.
Switzerland, the 2021 runner-up, took an unassailable lead over Canada after Viktorija Golubic rallied to beat Bianca Andreescu 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Belinda Bencic beat Leylah Fernandez 6-0, 7-5.
BASKETBALL U.S. falls to Brazil in World Cup qualifying
USA Basketball still has some work to do before clinching a berth in next year’s World Cup.
Bruno Caboclo scored 24 points, Georghino De Paula added 18 and Brazil greatly improved its chances of making the 32team World Cup field by beating the U.S. 94-79 in a qualifying game in Washington D.C.
The U.S. would have wrapped up a World Cup spot with a win. The Americans now will have to wait until at least Monday, when they play host to Colombia.
Langston Galloway led the U.S. with 14 points.
The U.S. still controls its destiny regarding qualifying.
The Americans lead Group F with a 7-2 record, one game ahead of Brazil (6-3). Mexico moved to 6-3 with an 80-60 win over Uruguay (5-4). Puerto Rico moved to 5-4 with a 91-79 win over Colombia (3-6).
All the U.S. needs to do is finish in first, second or third place to automatically qualify for the World Cup. The Americans have three qualifying games remaining — one Monday, then two more in February.
MOTORSPORTS Magnussen surprises by winning F1 pole
Kevin Magnussen shocked Formula One in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying by earning pole position for the sprint race at Interlagos.
It was the first pole after 142 races for the Danish driver.
Haas teammate Mick Schumacher, who is still seeking a seat for the next season, finished not surprisingly in 20th and last place.
Schumacher has earned only 12 points this season. Magnussen has a paltry 24.
Magnussen was almost five seconds faster than Schumacher. World champion Max Verstappen was second by almost two-tenths of a second. Mercedes’ George Russell was third.
Qualifying was delayed by rain, which helped Magnussen. The last five minutes of the session were severely affected by the wet track.
Haas spoke about Magnussen’s pole position with a touch of disbelief: “What did we just do?” the team posed on Twitter. “That was a Viking performance!”
WNBA Fever win lottery, will have No. 1 pick
The Indiana Fever earned the first pick in the WNBA draft for the first time in franchise history.
The Fever had a 44% chance to get the No. 1 pick after having the worst combined record the past two seasons. The Minnesota Lynx will pick second with the Atlanta Dream having the third pick and the Washington Mystics the fourth. The Lynx had the lowest chance to get the No. 1 pick, but moved up two spots in the draft lottery.
South Carolina’s star Aliyah Boston is expected to be the top pick in the draft. With seniors still having the option of coming back for a fifth season because of the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no guarantee they will make themselves eligible for April’s draft.
The rest of the first round will be Chicago, New York, Indiana, Atlanta, Seattle, Connecticut, Dallas and Minnesota.