The Houston Astros have hired Brad Ausmus as their new manager, per reports.
Ausmus had an 18 year major league career that included two stints with the Astros, for whom he played the majority of his career. He was the manager for the Detroit Tigers from 2014-17, and then managed the Angels in the 2019 season. His first year with the Tigers, Detroit won the division, but got swept in the division series. The Tigers then had a pair of last place finishes sandwiched around a second place finish, but didn’t
make the playoffs again. The year with the Angels…well, they are the Angels. Most recently, he was bench coach for the Oakland A’s in 2022, and for the New York Yankees for 2024-26.
The Astros are an interesting franchise right now. The selection of Ausmus, who is reportedly close with former teammate Jeff Bagwell, an advisor to owner Jim Crane, leads one to wonder how much power new general manager Randy Flores has. The Houston decision-making dynamic has not been clear for a while, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out going forward.
