Astros bring Baker back, Click still in limbo

The Houston Astros have announced today that manager Dusty Baker will be back as the team’s manager in 2023. Baker’s contract was up, and theoretically could have gone to another team if he wished, but after winning the World Series with the Astros, Baker apparently had no real interest in going elsewhere.

However, there is no deal between the team and general manager James Click, whose contract also expired once the 2022 season ended. Click is at the general manager’s meetings currently, but is working without a contract as an at-will employee for the time being. In today’s press conference announcing the Baker contract, Astros owner Jim Crane said that he’s evaluating Click’s situation and “[w]e’ll sit down and see where we end up with James.”

Given that Click stepped in for the fired and disgraced Jeff Luhnow and has overseen an organization that hasn’t skipped a beat, one would think that Crane would be working hard to make sure Click stays around. However, there’s been reports of personality conflicts between the two, with Crane wanting to be more hands-on than most owners.

So we shall wait and see whether Click stays, or whether the defending champs are going to have a new man in charge in the front office.