Astros Hire Randy Flores as General Manager; He Will Be Introduced Monday at Daikin Park
The 51-year-old former pitcher, an assistant GM with the Cardinals, becomes the 15th general manager in franchise history - and inherits a club that also still needs a manager after an 81-81 season and a Wild Card sweep.
HOUSTON - The Houston Astros' search for a new head of baseball operations is over. The club hired St. Louis Cardinals executive Randy Flores as its general manager on Friday, the Associated Press reported, and he will be formally introduced at a news conference Monday morning at Daikin Park.
Flores, 51, a former big league pitcher who had been an assistant general manager with the Cardinals, becomes the 15th general manager in franchise history. He replaces Dana Brown, who was let go on August 24 with his contract set to expire at the end of the season. For the remainder of the season, Brown's responsibilities were carried by three assistant general managers and Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell, the club's special adviser.
The hire answers only half of Houston's leadership questions. The Astros also need a manager: Joe Espada's contract was not renewed after the season, which ended with the AL West champions swept by the Chicago White Sox in their Wild Card Series.
The season Flores inherits was a strange one by any measure. Houston went 81-81 - no winning record - yet won the American League West for the fifth time in six years, becoming the first big league club without a winning record to reach the playoffs in a non-shortened season. Turning that roster back into a team with a record to match its division titles is the job that starts, formally, on Monday morning.
