Aug. 30: Astros owner Jim Crane and president of baseball ops Jeff Luhnow have announced Hinch’s new contract at a press conference. Hinch signed a four-year extension that is guaranteed through the 2022 season.
Aug. 29: he Astros have agreed to a contract extension with manager A.J. Hinch, reports Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston (Twitter link). A formal announcement of the move will come tomorrow, per the report.
While the length of the new contract is not yet clear, general manager Jeff Luhnow said earlier this summer that his hope was to “have [Hinch] here as my manager for as long as I’m here” (link via The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan). Those comments were made on the day that the organization announced an extension for Luhnow that runs through the 2023 season.
Hinch, 44, is in his fourth season at the helm of the Astros — each of which has been a winning season. After winning 86 and 84 games, respectively, in his first two seasons as the Houston manager, Hinch of course guided the Astros to a 101-win season and an eventual World Series championship in 2017. The Astros just wrapped up their 82nd victory of the season and are currently two and a half games up on the Athletics in a surprisingly competitive AL West division.
Hinch was already under contract through the 2019 season via a club option that long looked like a lock to be exercised, but the new agreement will prevent him from heading into the 2019 season with any questions surrounding his long-term standing in the organization. In all, the Astros are 353-266 under Hinch.
Hinch’s managerial career got off to a rough start when, after previously serving as the D-backs’ director of player development, he was named the team’s manager at the age of 35 in 2010. The move was widely panned at the time, given his youth and inexperience, and he lasted just 212 games with Arizona in that role before being cut loose. Hinch went on to work in the Padres’ front office as the team’s vice president of professional scouting before returning to the field as the new Astros manager following the 2014 season.
Hinch’s experience in player development, the adversity he faced in his first managerial position and his familiarity with analytics and data-driven strategies made him a fit in Houston, and it now seems that the union between the two sides will continue for several years to come. While Hinch has not yet taken home a Manager of the Year Award since being named the Houston skipper, he’s finished second in the voting (2015) and third in the voting (2017) in his short career.
Not a very surprising move, to be honest I thought they already extended him last year.
They only installed a new software update in his brain last year so he can stay updated in real-time on the latest advanced stats. This is more like an extended warranty, rather than a contract extension.
In 2018, relievers “start” games. In 2022…?
It’s a fairly long deal actually. I’ll be curious to see the $ amount.
Easiest decision the organization had this year—aside from locking up Altuve and Luhnow.
It’s a long deal actually and therefore somewhat of a risk for the club, though we don’t know the $ amount.
GM Luhnow was extended thru 2023/ promoted to President
We all know, many of the things he’s accomplished, is further helped by great manager, who (also) deserv(ed) an extension
Wonder if Hinch’s extension, also takes him through 2023 like his boss. I believe it’s common in industry for GM/Pres to have contracts’ expire at the same time, but 2023 still quite some time away Lol! But if anyone deserves that job security, it’s Hinch and this is coming from a Yankee fan. Good luck to you guys; looking forward to a 2018 playoff rematch. (Even if it’s the wildcard, hope Yankees get revenge) and watch out for those pesky 2018 A’s
He’s a snake
Could be, but he’s a very talented one……..
His first managerial job was in Arizona.
We will see how happy everyone is when all the starters are over thrown and have tired arms by seasons end.
Surprised people aren’t calling for him to be fired, cause that’s just the general consensus about managers from fans these days. Make a mistake, fired
Judging by these comment threads lately, a good number of people can’t even read, so fortunately they don’t base their decisions around the fans.
Hope you don’t mean me. I commented before the length of the deal was disclosed.
I like the AL Astros better than the NL Astros
Not the first to “come downstairs” to manage (John Ferrell, e.g.) but almost the prototype of the manager whose got some Front Office knowledge, which I think is crucial these days. With modern thinking teams (and certainly Astros are that), the manager’s gone beyond the “shop foreman” and become a real part of management.
One can only hope they get rid of the last vestige of that non-productive system, and stop forcing them to wear uniforms. As Bucky S. says, it’s the not-so- subtle reminder that they don’t get to eat at the adult table.
Baseball is still a mystery to people. Hinch makes mistake after mistake after mistake and fans think he’s a great manager. Managers who think like this, “I have to make decisions to make my team win” are bad managers. No, Hinch, you’re actually very meaningless to your team’s success. However you do contribute negatively to it sometimes. By the way, Giles is doing just fine in Toronto.