The Astros have been without a general manager since James Click was surprisingly dismissed just days after the club won the World Series. Reporting last week indicated that Michael Hill, former president of baseball operations for the Marlins, was one of the candidates for the position. However, Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports today that Hill has removed himself from consideration (Twitter links).
Hill, 51, would have brought plenty of experience to the role, having joined the Marlins in 2002. He worked his way up through various positions, including assistant general manager, general manager and president of baseball operations, holding that latter title until his contract wasn’t renewed following the 2020 season.
He has since been working for Major League Baseball as senior vice president of on-field operations. He’s been connected to various front office openings over the past few years, including with the Angels, Mets, Phillies and now the Astros. However, Heyman reports that Hill is happy in his role with the league and would like to stick around as the new rules are implemented. The 2023 season will see the league implementing a pitch clock as well as limits on defensive shifts and pickoff attempts. It seems the Houston job isn’t enough to tempt Hill away from overseeing the transition to this new brand of baseball.
That leaves two known candidates connected to the job in Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown and former Giants general manager Bobby Evans. It’s possible that owner Jim Crane is considering others that haven’t been reported yet but it seems like Hill can be crossed off the list. Crane himself has seemingly been leading the baseball decision making since his disagreements with Click led to the vacancy a couple of months ago.
No one wants to put up with Crane?
Put up with an owner that wins? I don’t know, sounds like much worse fates for GM’s.
Why doesn’t he just promote Jeff Bagwell? That would be the old school move that Crane seems to be embracing.
Bagwell stated many times he doesn’t want it.
Insert Jon Snow “I don wannit” gif.
Doesn’t want the fanbase to turn on Bagwell if things ever go south. Crane wants an outside fall guy for the moves he makes
Makes sense. If bagwell was smart with his money he likely has made enough money and by taking this job he would have a lot to lose and not much to win (perennial WS team so success is almost expected).
He can just as well remain a fan favorite and occasionally make some comments without ever having any responsibility that he can do better.
Going South is not always a bad thing. Just saying….
Fall guy? Click won a ring. Doesn’t sound like a fall guy to me
What moves has he made that has backfired? Seems like most of the things he’s done has worked out well.
Bagwell doesn’t want to do it. Hill likely pulled his name because he knows it’s either one of the two guys currently playing GM to be promoted or Dana Brown.
That went downhill pretty fast.
Guess he goes back to selling his jewelry now.
Dana Brown has been with Alex Anthopoulas for much of AA’s success. They have magically convinced numerous young studs to sign team friendly deals, and they have had a good eye for young talent both in Toronto and now in Atlanta. It’s hard to say or know how big of a role Brown has played in that success, but you’d think there’s few out there with a better resume.
I don’t want to lose him, especially to a HOU organization that is notorious for having a micromanaging owner. He’s had a lot of success with the last few drafts despite having restrictions almost every year he’s been with ATL, and producing some elite talent.
He actually wasn’t a micromanager until his last GM let Beltran bring the sign stealing to Houston. If something cost you $5 million you’d probably want to be a bit more involved.
$5M is a bad small contract to crane. That wasn’t the bad part.
Think it’s more of the hit to the reputation and ego. The draft picks hurt worse than that relatively small sum to Crane.
I wish I had a micromanaging owner that put out a baseball team that successful every year……
He’s def successful, no slight against him, just his presumed management style from afar. Knowing Brown and his talents from his time with AA and ATL, just don’t want to “light a lamp and put it under a basket.”
“I’m a peacock, you gotta let me fly!”
– Terry Holtz (Mark Wahlberg, The Other Guys)
I will continue to leave my name in the search.
I’m no Houston fan, but if I owned a baseball team I would want to do everything. Sadly all I can control are my fantasy teams. But everyone on here wishes the could be involved in MLB decisions.
I saw that Bobby Evans had interviewed , the quintessential fall guy in San Francisco. Not a bad guy never really got to see his chops as a GM.
Wouldn’t that be one of life’s cruel jokes if Al Avila becomes the next Astros GM and wins executive of the year the next 5 years?
Was never a serious candidate anyhow. Nothing to see here.
As a Marlins fan, I too was wondering how any team would look at Mike Hill considering his history of transactions.
Bobby Evans, come spin the wheel!
I couldn’t imagine Hill running the Astros. They’d turn from a World Series contender to a 100-loss team within 3 years with all the stupid moves he’ll make.