Dusty Baker’s contract is up whenever the Astros conclude their playoff run, marking the second straight year that the veteran manager has entered the offseason with uncertainty about his future. However, it looks like Baker might be staying put in Houston, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post hears from sources that “Baker will be invited back to manage in 2023.”
The Astros have reached the ALCS in all three years of Baker’s tenure as manager, and are two wins away from their second consecutive American League pennant. While he is still looking for his first World Series title as as manager, Baker’s 230-154 regular-season record with Houston has only further enhanced his case for enshrinement in Cooperstown, as only eight managers in baseball history have more wins than Baker’s 2093 career victories.
Despite this resume and Baker’s most recent track record of success, the Astros have been somewhat strangely hesitant to make a true long-term commitment, perhaps owing to Baker’s age (he turned 73 in June) and the unusual circumstances that led to his hiring. After A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow were fired in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal, Baker was hired just a few weeks later to replace Hinch, with James Click then brought in from the Rays front office to replace Luhnow as Houston’s general manager.
Baker was given a one-year contract with a club option for 2021, and the Astros made the early call to exercise that club option in July 2020. No further extension came, however, and Baker’s next contract wasn’t finalized until after the Astros were eliminated in last year’s World Series — even then, Baker’s new deal just covered the 2022 campaign.
For his own part, Baker hasn’t shown any public displeasure with this lack of security, and most recently said that “I ain’t worried. Worrying does no good,” when asked about his contract situation. Heyman writes that Baker “is reportedly open to returning” as Houston’s manager, as it would make sense that Baker would want to remain in a comfortable environment with a winning team. Hypothetically, Baker could be a candidate for any of the open managerial positions (with the Marlins, Royals, Rangers, or White Sox) since he’ll be a free agent, though the Astros are in a better position to contend in 2023 than any of those other four clubs.
Click’s contract status is another additional wrinkle. The GM will also be out of contract after the season, and there have been rumors that the Astros might be looking to make a change in the front office, despite Click’s success in the job. It doesn’t appear as though Click’s situation will impact Baker, however, as Heyman notes that the two men don’t have a particularly close relationship, even though this obviously hasn’t led to any issues with the Astros’ on-field success. Astros owner Jim Crane reiterated in a text message to Heyman that he “will make a decision after the season is over on both contracts. That has not changed.”
Given he led them to a pennant last year, and likely another one this year, it was good for Houston to reward Dusty.
Dusty looked like he was having a good time last night. Winning will do that to you!
Man i really want Dusty to get a ring. I think this is the year he gets it. Then he retires into the sunset. It would be fitting if he got it 20 years after a terrible decision to pull Ortiz.
He already said he wants two rings.
Must have been awesome to be a 23-24 year old playing CF alongside Hank Aaron. Dusty has had a wonderful career as a player and as a manager. It’s been 41 years since he got to hold the WS trophy with the 81 Dodgers, long time coming for a 2nd ring, could be Dusty’s year
Makes sense. A dirtbag team needs a dirtbag manager.
Did he play for the Dirt Bags in Long Beach? Interesting
Been looking in the mirror again, have you?
Haha must be a salty Yankees fan. Suck it loser 2 more and you guys can go fishing again
If Dusty stays, Click goes. They are incompatible. Click brings players up and then Dusty refuses to play them.
I’d prefer click, not sure why dusty won’t try David Hensley at DH there’s no way he’s worse then Mancini and Diaz have been
I would not mind Hensley myself. Diaz has not hit since he came back from his injury. But the most recent game he used him in LF. Yordan was DH. What his line up will be for DH, CF, and LF with the games in NY as we play three straight then no off day if need to return home
Damn. Dusty accidentally swiped right on Click and got catfished.
That’s a mighty talented bag o dirt there throat slider.
Slider – Grow up.
Does Dusty rhyme with scuzzy? Maybe not, but there’s something not clean with this team. Love the Houston Colt 45s. Toy cannon, Rusty Staub, Larry Dierker rules…
Dusty makes some weird lineups and has a man crush on a few players but you can’t argue with the results. Top team in the AL since he took over
They are the top team in the AL since opening day of 2015. More regular season wins than anybody but the Dodgers. More post-season success than anybody.
He’s been run out of every city he’s coached in except for Houston.
Don’t you have some kids to take care of instead of spouting off incorrect info?
He’s spot on. Baker had a man crush on Corey “I couldn’t hit water if I fell out of a rowboat” Patterson in the Nati… I hope he fails miserably..
Slider you’re a prime example of someone ate up by jealousy.
Pretty much every manager’s eventually run out of whatever city they’re coaching for.
To be run out of every city you’ve coached IN is impressive though.
I have zero love for the Astros, but Dusty navigated them through the most difficult time in franchise history and now on the cusp of the World Series.
So bring him back? Hmmm. Ya think???
Id say the lack of fans in the stands helped more than DB after the cheating became a huge story line for the players on the road. Hes a solid manager, just dont eff it up I bet is his motto. Had a great career and gets a ring this year. Go away afterwards DB. Cheating and baseball are like PB n J. Greatest game still.
Still a long way to go before saying he gets a ring this year. I see them getting past the Yankees, either NL team would be tougher then their AL matchups so far
True, anyone can get hot at the right time.
No one gets less out of great talent than Dusty. Cubs Frisco Cincinnati Astros. Can anyone be handed any better roster than those teams were at that time and not win it. He plays every game like it’s June 1 instead of October
I believe you forgot your meds today.
No one gets less out of great rosters than Dusty. Cubs, Frisco, Reds, and now the Astros. How does he not have multiple World Series rings. Oh I know, he plays every game like it’s June 1 and not October.
The 2nd time you posted this doesn’t make it better. Didn’t you just see the 111 win dodgers get knocked out and not even force a game 5? The playoffs are a crapshoot it’s usually about what team is the hottest
Ha ha. Then you have not watched him manage your own team. He’s a butcher. He can’t control a bullpen and he has handed the best talent in baseball.
Can’t control the bullpen? It seems you are the one who has not watched him manage your own team
With Reds up 2-0 versus San Francisco on the road comes home and manages like he’s a little league father
You obviously did not pay attention to that series. He will find a way to sleep walk through this one as well
For someone who doesn’t know how to manage a bullpen how did he get 2000+ wins? Plus it seems he’s on the verge of another World Series with his team the favorite to win it all. What happens to all your hot takes if dusty wins a ring this year?
Any one that knows Baseball in the town that he managed in will tell you good riddance to him. Just ask
Why should I pay attention to the Reds/Giants series? He is managing the Astros now. I have been paying attention to their games, and three things are absolutely clear – 1) he has managed the bullpen masterfully, 2) he has not been sleep walking in the slightest, and 3) you are 100% wrong.
Then ask a Cubs fan, a Giants fan, or a different Reds fan they will tell you the same thing. He’s horrific
Once the Astros/Dusty lose this World Series we will see who you blame
Dusty 0-1
And now that the Astros and Baker have won?
Well, he is the current manager of the World Champions. Guess he cannot be that horrific!
Wrong again
Eat some crow jcraft21 ASTROS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The better team won not the better manager. Funny everywhere he goes he gets fired. Must be a coincidence
First you said “Once the Astros/Dusty lose this World Series we will see who you blame”. But they actually won. So, of course you have to come up with some other lame comment that he gets fired everywhere he goes. Pretty sure every manager eventually gets fired. Cannot think of a single one off the top of my head that didn’t.
I do not think I have ever seen anyone be wrong as often as you. After all, the list of “horrific” managers that have won 2000 games is almost endless, and he has now won a World Series, so that cannot be used by all the detractors any more. Sucks for you..
Over 2,000 wins, 2 pennants, and 3 MOY Awards: is Dusty a HOF manager or does he need a ring for that honor?
You forgot the “in 25 years part”. Add that and those numbers are squat. My dog could accomplish that
Did dusty steal your boyfriend or something? Where does this constant hate come from? Every team he’s managed had a huge amount of respect for him. There’s a reason he’s still managing in his 70s…. HES GOOD AT WHAT HE DOES
So good he’s never won a World Series after a quarter century of managing. Seems legit.
You’re right winning 1400 games is all luck and Dusty didn’t actually do anything to help. Go stuff your face with a slider your takes are garbage
I think it is actually AJ Hinch on his burner account
Great manager, big karma.
Ridiculous that this man does not have a multi-year contract already. He’s so great for baseball
Dusty is that you?
“Expected to ask Dusty back” — after winning G2 of the ALCS, half-way to another WS appearance. With that kind of job security, why would anyone retire?
How kind of them
Guys, the baseball knowledge (or lack thereof) is fairly staggering here. Buck Showalter doesn’t have a championship ring, yet Ozzie Guillen does. I like Ozzie, but a great manager he was not. Baseball is a very difficult game and sometimes it’s the luck of the draw in the playoffs. To throw Dusty under the bus for not having a championship ring shows a lack of baseball knowledge.
The 2002 Giants should have won the ring, but the Angels had a little more baseball mojo. Do you know who Steve Bartman is? Yeah, Google him.
Dusty Baker has a championship ring from the 1981 Dodgers and I would argue that’s the baseball apex. If he gets one as a manager, great, but if he doesn’t, he’s still a damn good manager. Yeah he has his faults, but the man is 73 and still managing into the World Series (more than likely). Truth be told, I’m rooting against the Astros, but it’s not because of Dusty.
Lol. Don’t go the Bartman route. A good manager would have pulled his team together and avoided the meltdown that followed not only that night, but the next game.
Dusty’s best team management in his career has been with the Astros.
He inherited a mess: Demoralized players from the public fallout, a depleted farm system, free agents leaving, etc.
I don’t believe any other current or former manager would have done better given the Astros self-inflicted circumstances.
Dusty is the primary reason for the Astros’ continued success. He is a great manager!
Or maybe Buck just crumbles. Crotchety baseball analyst he is, “great” manager he’s not. He let Ozzie get into his head when hr was with Texas. He would try to nickel and dime his way with unnecessary in game gestures to no effect. Ozzie made light of his type A personality in one instance by presenting him with a lineup card with all the starters email addresses.
I don’t argue with success and I won’t here. Always makes me wonder why the trashtros felt the need bang garbage cans together. I always thought they have talent and with the rosters they have assembled the past several years they should have won without the help of trash cans. Maybe the analytics department said bang garbage cans together? I think they are a very talented squad. Not a fan of them but it would probably help how history views them if they could win a title before their window of opportunity slams shut.
Retired/Advisory Role;
After OF Beltran joined the Astros after leaving the Yankees, he told the Astros players “you guys are behind the times”. A player brought into to provide veteran leadership influenced a youthful, energetic squad to do what everyone else was supposedly doing.
The Astros’ cheating scandal was more complex than banging trash cans though. They deployed a hybrid scheme patterned after some other teams.
While I believe MLB should have revoked the Astros 2017 WS Title, I am not surprised they did not. MLB will always take actions that in the best of the league (MLB fandom desires are mute).
In 2018, the Brewers and Mets communicated to the league (w/circumstantial evidence) the Dodgers were cheating.
Credit to the Brewers and Mets for notifying the league (the Dodgers seem to be the darling franchise of MLB).
Astros had direct evidence that other teams were cheating. Instead of notifying the league, the Beltran led Astros crafted a hybrid cheating monstrosity patterned after the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers shenanigans.
MLB disciplined the Astros very lightly. A slap on the wrist basically all the Astros received. But their adjudication of the cheating scandal was not about punishing the Astros but protecting MLBs most storied franchises.
If MLB revoked the Astros 2017 title, that would have established a precedent and most likely put MLB in a difficult predicament if more players came forward (and some definitely would have if the Astros lost their title).
I wish MLB would have revoked the Astros title. More titles would have followed.
I agree with what you said. I wasn’t going to go into detail but the Astros garbage cans is only scratching the surface. To much money to be made for things to get to awful nasty. Something had to happen with Houston to try and put out a fire.
The Yankees manager is complaining about the roof being open. Both teams played in the same conditions. Excuses!!!
Texas is now filled with Giants ex-managers
A ham sandwich could manage that team to a World Series.
Same could be said about the Dodgers, but that would prove a ham sandwich is better at in-game decision making than Dave Roberts
A ham and swiss on a kiser roll will lead them to a World Series victory.
this edition of the astros might have beaten the 98 yankees. i’ll be surprised if the series goes more than 4 and amazed if it gets back to houston
and all this with altuve doing nothing
Is he not seeing the ball or are they just pitching him better. I know Altuve loves to go after first pitches. He had a walk or two but some of his swings. Hope he picks it up in NY. Maybe all the boo’s will get him going. I know with Seattle only 1 game there. But wonder what Boone will have to complain on next. Figured he did not like result from the other night on Judge. So would be nice to take it all in NY
Understand all the love for Dusty. But in the past his issues were in working with other departments. He tended to run roughshod over FO’s, took his players and did what he wanted – ignoring what the FO was trying to do in bringing along young players, giving older players rests, using players in certain roles, etc. He also created an ‘Us against the world’ atmosphere with his players. Which is why I knew he’d have turf battles with Mike Rizzo when the Nationals hired him (surprised he lasted 2 years).
When he took the Astros job he went into arguably what was – and is – the best organization in MLB. He never dealt with analytics much in his past. With the Astros he’s been given some of the best….and left alone to use them as he sees fit. His role in simply that of manager – everything else is being handled better that he’d ever experienced it his past jobs as a manager.
I like Dusty. Not so much Click. But if Dusty was not here would Houston look at Espada. I see Bochy was hired for the Rangers. The White Sox are looking at Ozzie Guillen. I can see not changing with Dusty for now. He fits with the team and Hinch did as well. I wonder of coaching staff who might be retained and who could be changed. Hitting coaches, base coaches, pitching. Maybe even bench coach if Espada does get a manager gig.
Not a huge fan to be honest. Not a bad guy but leaves his team in the dust.
This blog really cleaned up after I started blocking every troll.
I think Dusty Baker should go out on top under his own terms if the Astros win the WS.
I’m not saying Dusty is in this class but, I believe many elderly show flashes of their former selves and can come up with great solutions given time but mostly tend to resort to old solutions for new circumstances especially when under pressure.
I don’t want to remember Dusty like the last years of John McGraw, Bill McKechnie, Connie Mack, Casey Stengel, Sparky Anderson, Jim Leyland and now Tony LaRussa.