November 9: The Astros and owner Jim Crane have made it official, announcing that Baker will return on a one-year contract for 2023.
November 8, 5:35 pm: Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle relays word from Click, who says he is still “in discussions” about his future.
4:45 pm: Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that Baker and Click each received one-year contracts for 2023.
9:33 am: Fresh off his the first World Series title of his illustrious managerial career, Dusty Baker confirmed to Mark Berman of Houston’s FOX 26 that he’ll return to the team in 2023 (Twitter link). A deal has not yet been finalized, but Baker tells Berman: “I’ll be back, but we’re working on it. It’s as simple as that.”
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported shortly before Baker’s quote that Astros owner Jim Crane has already spoken to both Baker and general manager James Click about their futures and is planning to formally extend them contract offers for the 2023 season.
Named Houston’s manager in the immediate aftermath of punishments being meted out from the team’s 2017 sign-stealing scandal, Baker took the reins in a tumultuous situation and has seamlessly overseen not only a stabilizing period for the franchise but a continuous run of success. He’s now been at the helm of the Astros for the past three seasons, compiling a 230-154 record in that time, winning a pair of American League pennants and, just this weekend, adding another World Series title to the record books.
Baker has helped to oversee the breakout of one of baseball’s best young pitching staffs, serving as skipper while Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy have all established themselves as quality MLB hurlers — with Valdez, in particular, blossoming to the point that he ought to finish in the top five of this year’s American League Cy Young voting (though teammate Justin Verlander will be the favorite to win the award).
The 2022 season not only brought Baker his first World Series win as a manager but also saw him eclipse the 2000-win mark, making him just the 12th person to ever reach that milestone. Baker’s 2093 managerial wins currently place him ninth all-time, but another go-around in Houston will afford him the opportunity to take aim at Joe McCarthy (2125 wins), Bucky Harris (2158 wins) and Sparky Anderson (2194 wins) next season.
Baker would need a 102-win campaign to surpass Anderson and move into sole possession of sixth-place on the all-time list, but given the quality of the Houston core, that’s hardly an unattainable goal. His Astros just won 106 games in 2022, after all, and the team’s only free agent of true note is Verlander, who’ll surely be a target if and when he declines his player option and returns to the open market.
As for Click, there’s been a good bit of speculation about his future with the team amid multiple reports of friction between him and Crane. It’d be a surprise to see any team move on from its top baseball operations executive on the heels of a World Series victory, however, so it seems that even if the two parties don’t always see eye to eye, Crane will offer Click the opportunity to return on a new contract for at least the 2023 campaign. That forthcoming offer, of course, doesn’t necessarily guarantee that Click will return, but it’s nevertheless of clear note that Crane will at least ostensibly place the ball in his GM’s court.
Thought he might retire and allow Espada an opportunity. Mahalo
The Astros don’t want Espada and neither do the other teams that have interviewed him in the past 2 seasons.
Bang the garbage can for this move
Absolutely, glad to see the best team in baseball keep chugging along making weaklings like you cry forever. Keep crying clown, Astros will keep winning.
cheatersssssssssssssssssssssss
It was 70 years ago. Durocher is dead. Thompson is dead. About the obit cheater from that team left over is Willie Mays. Get over it, boy.
Loser
I don’t think Click will take a one year deal he would be in high em and.
Seems insulting to only offer 1 year to Click. If you don’t like the guy, part ways amicably and prepare to move on. Don’t be smug
Glad to see that Dusty and Click will be back. Well deserved. Best team in baseball will continue to dominate.
Well, Yankees and Dodgers, Phillies, and Boston are cheaters too.
ASTROS are for real.2022 CHAMPS in my book. A mistake years ago. MOVE ON with your cheating teams
Congratulations to Dusty. Click would have loved if he had gone away and found a way to get Stearns
Why are the Phillies getting roped in here?
Because it was a league wide issue. Most likely they were just as guilty as Houston and New York.
That is a not very well known, but excellent point you make there jjd002. In fact – hot take alert: it was such a league-wide issue that this was the real reason why the players weren’t punished. To get their testimony, yes, I get it. But I say they told Manfred they would out the entire sport if they did. And MLB didn’t want another black eye like steroids. Look at Bellinger’s unbelievable 2017 season, which he never r came close to duplicating. Plus, it’s the last time Mookie hit over .300 in a season.
Bellinger was the largest recipient of the electronic sign stealing era. The minute baseball put a stop to it he became the worst offensive player in baseball. It will all come out, but it will take some players retiring (similar to how the PED stuff eventually all came out years after MLB tried to make it seem like only a few players did it).
@jjd002
“The minute baseball put a stop to it (Bellinger) became the worst offensive player in baseball” sounds compelling, but is pretty easily unraveled when (1) your best source is “most likely they were just as guilty”, and (2) Bellinger suffered two major injuries which clearly contributed to his abilities.
Not that, if cheating were at play, he wouldn’t have benefitted. And as a Giants fan, if evidence of cheating was found, I would thrive on the schadenfreude of the Dodgers being knocked down a rung or two. But as it stands, the Dodgers look like a legitimately good team and your “trust me bro” source is just not doing it.
Injuries didn’t cause him to go from MVP to not getting resigned.
Never said they weren’t a good team. Most of the teams in the league were doing it. Dodgers were no different than the Astros or Red Sox (it’s likely your Giants were doing it too).
It’s possible. I remember when Canseco said like 80% of the league did steroids, most people said he was deranged… and he ended up being right. However, I’ll need more than “it’s likely” to hold any weight. Speculation does nothing. If my Giants come out as cheaters, I’ll rethink my fandom of theirs.
Also, are you insinuating Bellinger is a below average, .210 20HR bat that, when he cheats, suddenly makes vintage Pujols blush? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds, when shoulder surgery and a broken leg can absolutely derail a guy’s career? Also, he was a high-end prospect, so unless he’s been cheating his whole life (until 2020), his dip in production is way more unlikely than his jump. Again, I’m not saying he didn’t cheat – maybe he did. But what cheating sends a player from D-tier to S-tier? And that he wasn’t caught for, but decided to stop doing anyway?
Throwing darts at “likely” cheating might be fulfilling when you turn outto be right and say “told you so”, but looks ridiculous when it’s made up.
I do not understand the one year deals here lately with Dusty and Click. But as was mentioned I do not see Click really taking one year deal. But guess Crane does not like three year deals or such. Wants to be able to dump them if have a bad month I guess. And not have money tied to them.
Well, Baker is kinda old and Click doesn’t get along with Crane. It’s really not that hard to understand.
Usually, it’s uncommon for managers to not be given multiple years (to avoid being put in a contract year situation), so I’m surprised Baker wasn’t even given an option following a World Series win.
Awesome news. I have a feeling it may be a one year deal for Dusty and that Espada will be the manager in 2024.
Good news for Dusty and good news for baseball.
Best run organization in baseball.
I would love to see Espada have a chance. Do other teams not pick him because think he is Astros future. Wonder if rest of coaching staff will be back. I wonder of player personnel what might change. I believe majority will return but some players I do not see in spots like Chas and Dubon with CF. Chas I see staying but being full time CF. I think we need someone at that bottom of lineup. Chas did not come through all the time. Meyers either. Yes the injury probably had a factor there. Waiting to see the Articles or chat on Rumors on the Astros. But I wonder if Click is one to keep taking one year deal. I know he will be offered a contract and I assume will take One year deals to me just say you barely have the job. That you could be gone if you take a nose dive after the last few seasons Houston has had. I do not see the other teams in West competing with Houston but maybe Seattle. Oakland the bottom with their existence up in air with staying in the area. Angels they have ownership issues. So shall see what is for Houston during off season
Dubon can play outfield and both middle infield spots…..plus he is fast….a good utility guy
Dubon is a utility guy. Not sure I’d call him a good one though.
They aren’t picking him, because he’s not going to be a good manager.
I think Crane deep down wants to get Stearns back. I wouldn’t be surprised if he offers Click a one year deal, it gets declined, and then he works out a trade for Stearns. On record, he then can say that he offered to extend Click.
Give us Forrest Whitley and another prospect and you can have Stearns
No
Forrest Whitley is pretty much worthless at this point.
Whitley is going to be out of options soon and can’t stay on the field.
He might be a reliever at this point if he can even stay up in the bigs.
That’d be an easy yes for David Stearns, for me.
What’s with Astros fans getting upset over these “cheater”or “trashcan” comments?
I’m an Astros fan myself and these sort of comments have literally no meaning to me because people have been saying these things since the winter of 2019.
Please, Let’s enjoy our championship season and leave the haters and trolls to stew in their own words, lest you let them get to you.
I don’t mind the cheater barbs, but everyone let’s make it less personal. No one ran over your puppy.
For my part, I’m just here to talk baseball. I’m over the cheating scandal. The Astros were punished. Was it to light? Doesn’t matter anymore. Nobody is going to relitigate (using that term broadly) this thing. If you are an Astros fan, you should feel free to celebrate.
Yankees won when they had all those players steroided up. Who cares what a haters has to to say!
Astros are champions!
Carlos Beltran works in the Yankee press box and Marwin Gonzalez played for them this year. Not to mention all the steroid history in that organization. Any hypocritical talk of cheating from Yankee fans should automatically be dismissed. They’re just salty because Houston has owned them since 2015.
The backlash has helped the Astros win. They can take 2 out of 3 in a harsh Philly environment and win out in both Seattle and NY because they’re immune to hostile crowds at this point. I don’t think any other team in MLB has that. It’s an advantage.
Happy for Dusty and Christian. Altuve and Bregman among others don’t deserve it but oh well. Hope this one was clean, but probably not.
Happy for Dusty and Christian. Altuve and Bergman don’t deserve it especially bc there’s high odds this win wasn’t clean either but, oh well. They’ll never be punished
Enough for what happened. Age old story of babes all minus Pete Rose getting his.
Happy for Dusty and Christian. Altuve and Bregman don’t deserve it especially bc there’s high odds this win wasn’t clean either but, oh well. They’ll never be punished
Enough for what happened. Age old story of babes all minus Pete Rose getting his.
Saying it 3x won’t make you look any less weak. Stop the loser talk and move on
3 attempts and your rumblings still make no sense
Are we talking about contract extensions or championships? Because I believe the post is about contract extensions
I wonder if he considered exiting on a high note?
Bruce Bochy is only 90 wins behind Baker. Francona is a little over 100 behind him. Some amazing managers coming to the end of their run.
Dusty Baker should be eating pickles and drinking Bloody Mary’s on a nice porch somewhere.
Who says he isn’t?
Not sure I’m crazy about this news. Was kind of hoping Dusty would ride off into the sunset and give Espada a shot. I’m really glad he got a ring, and I think he was the right guy for the job when he was hired, but Dusty’s “load management” drives me nuts.
His “load management” may well have won us a World Series this year. That’s the reason our team was healthy and our pitchers were fresh. I hope we stick to a six man rotation next year. As many teams as they’re letting into the postseason now, the regular season is not that important.
I agree that it kept guys healthy. The 6 man kept the starters healthy too. It worked, but I don’t know if resting 2 of your better starting players at a time in any given game is the best way to go in a better division. They had a lot of leeway this year because outside of Seattle, the rest of the division was terrible. He can rest them one at a time and still accomplish the same thing. Sorry, but seeing Altuve and Alvarez resting the same day for example, drives me nuts. He did that all year.
In that division, NOT going w/ a 6 man rotation would have been actionable negligence.
Load management in baseball is more a tactic of modern, analytics-driven organizations. It’s coming from the front office. It wouldn’t change if Dusty left, and could even increase.
Interesting. Hinch didn’t do it, At least not to this extreme.
It’s been gaining in popularity the last few years. I find it too extreme. Not sure there’s any evidence it reduces injuries.
But it’s now a different front office under Click instead of Lunhow. I can see where it plays in and also possibly part of rift between Click and Crane/Baker.
@RobM There’s evidence, not only that it reduces injuries but that since even the best players only increase your chance of winning any given game by about 1/20th of a run, and given the amount by which rest improves performance, this combination makes an unrebuttable argument for resting certain players regularly.
It’s all the more valid for teams with strong benches, strong backups for particular players, #6-8 starters, and strength at the arse end of the bullpen.
Ready for change. Tired of the toothpicks, facemasks, latex gloves and unnecessary race baiting
Out of 100 posts you’re the first person that brought up race. Go sit in the corner somewhere
I’m not even an Astros fan but you stupid kids need to move on.
It’s been 5 years good lord get a life
I’m not even an Astros fan but you kids need to move on
It’s been 5 years get a life
Bad news for the Astros’ young arms
He didn’t push his starters beyond 100 pitches all year for the most part. I think they need to keep that 6 man going though.
Might need a 7 man rotation if they sign Verlander back. The scary thing that nobody else knows yet outside of Houston, is their best SP in the entire rotation will be a rookie next season. They honestly could save the money on Verlander and do something big at 1B, although there aren’t really any good FA 1B options. Might have to trade Urquidy and someone else for a good power hitting 1B.
Rizzo would look good in Orange.
Any FO that can’t find a 2-win 1Bman for a $6m AAV isn’t worth its nameplates.
The Yankees should give Oswald Cabrera a 1Bman’s glove, improve their defense by `15 runs thereby, and put the $18.5m they’ll save towards a position of genuine need.
I think they keep Yuli, but he doesn’t play every day. They’ll look for another good veteran 1B to platoon there with him.
Any older baseball fans here remember a problem in the Atlanta in the 1970s when Dusty Baker brought a handgun into the clubhouse? If I recall he was perceived as a malcontent in ATL at the time.
@dugmet I don’t remember, but so what? It was the 70s. That was HALF A CENTURY AGO.
After only receiving a one year offer, if I were Click I’d be looking for President of Baseball Ops jobs. Maybe the Mets would be a fit?
@kevnames42 Love to see it. The idea of Eppler being in charge of the offseason is bonechilling.
I’d say “lose the stupid toothpick”.
And the latex gloves
Someone mentioned Forest Whitley for Stearns. Where does he stand for a Houston. He has had a couple setbacks. Hunter I expect to make the rotation. Would have Hunter, Framber, Javier, McCullers, Verlander, Garcia and Urquidy. Doubt will have a rotation like that group. Who could be expendable. I think was on this site on Urquidy for Contreras but Crane did not approve it. Could we see change for CF. Chas do not think full starter. But that bottom of lineup needs change. But great that Dusty is returning. He has the right to. Even though some thought he has a ring now ride off so he can take over. Click guess has not decided I guess with it only a year contract.
Forrest flamed out again this year
Surprised me that Myers was left off roster. He came back this year after shoulder surgery and some thought he was overcompensating his swing therefore he was not hitting well. He was sent down to minors in July and was recalled in September to see if he could reclaim starting CF for playoffs. He played well upon his return playing more than McCormick and Dubon who was actually used as McCormick’s defensive replacement in CF. Why Myers was left off is Puzzling to me.
I think it was his arm as much as it was his bat. His arm strength has really fallen off since his shoulder injury. Hopefully he gets it back. I doubt they’re closing the book on him.
Closing the comment section on any topic relating to the Astros might be a discussion worth having.
How about just banning obvious trolls.
Baker should demand a two year contract and retire if he doesn’t get one and head directly to the HoF.
He may only want a one year deal. Who knows?
Great for Dusty & MLB.
1/10mil for Dusty? I hope so.
He knows too much to leave. Once he does and his NDA expires, he’ll be whistleblowing all over 60 Minutes.
Astros are lucky to have Dusty.