Astros: Eduardo Perez surprise candidate for manager

MIAMI, FL - APRIL 29: Batting Coach Eduardo Perez #30 of the Miami Marlins looks on from the dugout during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Marlins Park on April 29, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Glenn/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - APRIL 29: Batting Coach Eduardo Perez #30 of the Miami Marlins looks on from the dugout during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Marlins Park on April 29, 2012 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Glenn/Getty Images) /
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An unexpected candidate for the Astros manager position came out of left field yesterday. Eduardo Perez is scheduled to interview for the position today.

Sources have confirmed the current ESPN analyst, Eduardo Perez, is the latest candidate to interview to be the next manager of the Astros. Perez has former ties here in Houston serving as the bench coach for Bo Porter back in 2013. The 50-year-old is the son of Hall of Fame and seven-time All-Star player Tony Perez.

Perez will be the fifth person to interview for the position following Buck Showalter, John Gibbons, Will Venable, and Dusty Baker. The latter completed his interview yesterday and felt very positive about his sit down with owner Jim Crane and his team.

Perez was apparently the runner up for the same position for the New York Mets this offseason before they decided to go with Carlos Beltran. As we all now know, Beltran has been relieved of that position before he could barely start, due to his ties with the Astros sign-stealing scandal. Perez says he has not yet been contacted by the Mets about their open position and it is thought they may hire from inside the organization.

One strike against Perez is the fact that he has virtually no management experience under his belt. His only time spent managing a team was with the Colombian National team and two seasons managing in the Puerto Rican Winter League.  Perez also spent a little over one season as the Miami Marlins hitting coach. But Jim Crane did state that even though he would like an experienced candidate for the job, it wasn’t necessarily a requirement.

Perez spent four years with ESPN from 2006-10 and has now been with them since 2014. ESPN has said that despite the fact he is under a multi-year contract, they would give permission for him to interview for the job in Houston.

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The Astros are also rumored to still be interested in holding interviews with Jeff Banister, Dodger’s special assistant Raul Ibanez, and AJ Hinch‘s bench coach Joe Espada. Crane has indicated that he would like to have the spot filled by February 3.