Astros hire new manager and GM
Ending weeks of uncertainty, the Houston Astros announced last week that Dusty Baker will become the club’s new manager.
USA TODAY Sports was first to report that Baker and the Astros had come to an agreement.
Houston signed Baker to a one-year deal with a club option for a second year, hoping he will help lead them through their most tumultuous time in the wake of the Astros’ cheating scandal.
“He’s the best person to lead this team to a championship,” Astros owner Jim Crane said, according to MLB.com.
The Astros, who fired manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow for their roles in the scandal, also are expected to have a shake-up of their coaching staff.
“We have to go forward,” Baker said. “We can’t go backwards. We’ve got to go forward and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. It’s certainly not going to happen on my watch here.”
Baker, 70, was chosen among a field of nine managerial candidates, including veterans Buck Showalter, John Gibbons, Jeff Banister and Brad Ausmus.
“This is my last hurrah,” Baker said. “I’m excited to be here and excited to win, because this is my last chance to accomplish the goal (winning the World Series). I was happy, but I wasn’t satisfied where I was and what I was doing – because something’s missing.”
Certainly, he was the most accomplished, winning 1,863 games in his 22-year career with seven first-place finishes and a National League pennant. He could become the first manager to lead five teams to postseason berths.
Baker is one of nine managers, joining Hall of Famers John McGraw, Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, Sparky
Anderson, Joe McCarthy, Walter Alston and Leo Durocher, with that many victories and a .532 winning percentage.
The Astros hired James Click as their GM Feb. 4, putting the Tampa Bay Rays executive in charge of the scandal-ridden team. “James has had an impressive career,” Crane said in a statement. “He is a respected leader who has progressed in this game across all aspects of baseball operations and he has built great relationships with both front office and clubhouse personnel.”
Crane announced the hiring of Click, who spent the last three seasons as the Rays’ vice president of baseball operations. The 42-year-old had been with Tampa Bay for the last 14 seasons.
“I am excited to join the Astros family,” Click said in a statement. “The Astros are a progressive and innovative organization with a deeply talented group in the front office.”