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5 potential replacements for Dusty Baker as Astros manager
News broke last night that 2023 was Dusty Baker's final year as Astros manager. If that's true, let's look at five potential replacements for Dusty moving forward.
The Astros laid an absolute egg last night, getting blown off their own field by their division rival Rangers. As soon as the game ended, news broke that Dusty Baker is likely to retire.
If this is it for Baker, he finishes with a 320-226 record as Astros manager. The Astros made the ALCS all four years under Baker, twice winning the pennant and once winning the World Series.
Here are 5 potential new managers for the Houston Astros
Baker brought stability when needed, and deserves a great deal of appreciation for that, but even before the news of his impending retirement broke, it was undoubtedly time for the Astros to go in another direction. His loyalty to underperforming veterans and refusal to play young talent cost the Astros down the stretch.
Let's see who may be calling the Astros lineup shots next year.
Joe Espada
Joe Espada has been the Astros bench coach since the 2018 season. He knows the clubhouse culture intimately well, and has been a managerial candidate outside of the organization in recent off-seasons.
Espada landed the plane in Game 5 after Dusty Baker's ejection, making the pivotal decision to pinch-hit for Jeremy Peña.
Espada has been a bench coach on a World Series winning team under two different managers and would bring consistency if he is the hire. While it can't be known for sure, one would anticipate Espada would embrace analytics and the front office input in a way Dusty Baker never did.
Espada is the more obvious choice, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see Crane make a bigger splash.
Craig Counsell
If Crane does take a home-run swing, Counsell is the one to take.
Counsell has managed the Brewers for the last nine seasons, going 707-625. Three times Counsell was runner-up for NL Manager of the Year. Milwaukee made the playoffs in six of Counsell's nine seasons, winning the NL Central three times and earning a Wild Card three times.
His contract is up at the end of this season and with the combination of his success in Milwaukee as well as his reputation as being a great manager of players as well as his understanding of modern baseball should put him at the top of Houston's wishlist this offseason.
Counsell the biggest manager name on the market with the Brewers still hoping to retain him and the always spending Mets linked to Counsell. While the Mets were able to land an Astros target for president in David Stearns, Houston should prohibit the Mets from landing Counsell.
The Astros haven't engaged in a bidding war under Jim Crane's ownership. One for Counsell's services could and should be the first.
Mark DeRosa
While Counsell would be a home run, Mark DeRosa would be a risk. It could very well be a risk worth taking.
DeRosa had no professional coaching experience until the World Baseball Classic. DeRosa called the shots for Team USA en route to a runner-up finish.
Since retiring in 2013 at the end of a 16-year big league career, DeRosa has worked as an analyst for MLB Network.
In his time there, he's had plenty of high praise for the Astros, often defending them and their reign of success while others have chastised them.
The move would come with some eyebrows being raised, but as a 10-year analyst, he knows how to engage the media, which would be a nice change of pace from everything being "discomfort," he rallied Team USA to bounce back and make a run to the finals after a disappointing start, and he'd bring 16-years experience in the bigs.
DeRosa would be a great hire.
George Lombard
George Lombard may not be a name that is incredibly familiar to Astros fans, but the man he has worked under for three years sure is.
George Lombard has been the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers since 2021, working under the Astros legend A.J. Hinch. Before becoming the Tigers bench coach, he spent three years as the Dodgers first base coach.
Lombard does have some experience as a manager in the minor leagues. In fact, Lombard managed the Red Sox Golf Coast League team in 2011, the first professional team Betts ever played for.
Lombard also has experience in the front office. He was promoted from Gulf Coast League manager to minor league outfield/base running coordinator in Boston, before filling the same role in Atlanta. He was also the Braves minor league field coordinator.
With a blend of coaching and front office experience, Lombard would bring a blend of on field expertise and an analytical mindset. He's cut his teeth in winning franchises in Boston, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and has spent three years under a World Series winning manager in A.J. Hinch.
Lombard will be hired somewhere this offseason. Houston would be a good landing spot.
Don Kelly
Don Kelly would probably be the least known name on this list, but he'll be a manager in no time.
Kelly actually has some ties to Houston. He was their first base coach in 2019, when the Astros assembled one of the best baseball teams ever seen.
Before becoming a base coach, Kelly worked in player development for the Tigers. He's been the bench coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates since the 2020 season, and has been attracting interest as a managerial candidate ever since.
Kelly, like Lombard (and A.J. Hinch before his Houston tenure), would bring a blend of front office experience and time in the dugout.
As the Astros have moved away from analytics more under Dusty Baker, the hire of Kelly would be a step in the right direction, moving back towards a more forward thinking organization.
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