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4 manager candidates the Astros should avoid like the plague
As the Astros look to replace Dusty Baker, they should ensure these four names don't come near Houston's dugout.
The hunt for a new Astros manager is on. With Dusty Baker officially retiring, Houston will have a new leader in the dugout.
We recently ranked five candidates the Astros should consider hiring. Some were more obvious names like Joe Espada, and others were lesser known like Don Kelly.
Houston could also hire somebody not on that list, as long as it’s somebody like a Rodney Linares, Will Venables, and maybe even a Mark Kotsay.
Jim Crane said at Dusty Baker’s retirement press conference that he and Dana Brown would head up the manager search, which was somewhat encouraging after the previous report that Crane and Jeff Bagwell would call the shots with some insight from Brown.
4 Manager candidates the Astros should avoid like the plague
The Astros need to return to their forward-thinking roots. They can’t afford to have any more clashes between manager and front office. Players like Yainer Diaz and Chas McCormick can’t sit because of schools of thought out of the 1980s.
The Astros need to nail this hire. If they hire one of these four candidates, they’ve done the exact opposite.
Brad Ausmus
Had Brad Ausmus not been teammates with Jeff Bagwell, would he even be under consideration for this role? Yes, he played for the Astros, but what distinguishing trait does he bring to the table beyond that?
Ausmus has a terrible record as a manager, going 386-422. He’s never managed an elite team, but he also underachieved with all but one Tigers roster he managed and the 2019 Angels.
As Chandler Rome pointed out ($), the 2019 Angels were caught up in a scandal far more significant than banging a trash can, and while Ausmus was in no way complicit, can the Astros risk a hire like that after some of the goodwill they’ve restored to their franchise under Dusty Baker and their sustained winning?
Brian McTaggart said yesterday he didn’t believe the Astros would hire Ausmus and that the front office would want a more analytical mind. One can only hope.
Buck Showalter
Vegas odds for the next Astros manager have Buck Showalter at +700, tied for second-best odds. Hiring Showalter would be at best be a lateral move from Dusty Baker and at worst a step back.
The New York Mets just assembled a super team and imploded under Showalter’s watch in half a season. When the Astros re-acquired JV, Verlander was very open about how excited he was to be back in a forward thinking, analytical organization.
Tommy Pham, now playing for the Diamondbacks in the World Series, destroyed the Mets culture on his way out after being traded. Houston has built a winning culture that always outworks the opposition. Why would they hire a manager that just lost the clubhouse?
The Mets just hired David Stearns to be their president. Stearns played a big role in the Astros rise under Jeff Luhnow, and was one of the msot sought-after executives on the market. If Stearns, one of the best execs that has ever been in the Astros front office, wanted to move on from Showalter, that should be a sign for the Astros to steer clear.
The Astros managed to get Dusty Baker over the hump for his first ring, but they aren't a charity organization. If Buck Showalter is to win his first ring, and for that matter, pennant, it's going to have to be elsewhere.
Joe Maddon
In Chandler Rome's aforementioned piece of managerial candidates, he named Maddon, mostly because Crane likes to make a splash.
Hiring Maddon would make a splash. But it would be of the belly flop off the high-dive variety.
Maddon was recently fired from the Angels because of his refusal to embrace analytics. If he won't get on board with one of the most behind the times organizations in the game, how would he be expected to embrace Houston?
Winning a ring is hard, and Maddon deserves some credit for winning one and helping end the Cubs curse. But the Cubs core was supposed to be the next dynasty. They were Houston before Houston. They never came close to winning anything meaningful under Maddon's watch and the core was torn apart in short order.
What Houston has built is sustainable. If they want to continue their sustainable model, Maddon is not the move.
Don Mattingly
Mattingly is tied with Showalter at +700 odds for next Astros manager. He too would be a mistake of a hire.
In 12 years, Mattingly is 889-950 as a manager. His below .500 record is slightly misleading, as he went 446-363 while leading the Dodgers, before being tasked with managing a Marlins team that was forced into a rebuild after the Jose Fernandez tragedy.
Never the less, it is inarguable that both the Dodgers and Marlins took steps forward without him.
Dave Roberts almost immediately got the Dodgers over the hump, taking them to the World Series in three of his first five seasons. The Marlins went 69-93 last year in Mattingly's final season, traded away their co-ace in Pablo Lopez, and then went on to win 15 more games and make the playoffs.
Mattingly is a lifelong, "baseball guy." But his on-field resume is much better than that of his managerial resume. Mattingly should not be the Astros next hire.
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