Dusty Baker is a hot name for various unexpected manager openings around MLB, but the one he seems most likely for is the Houston Astros job.
Baker arrived in Houston on Sunday and spoke with reporters ahead of his interview with the Astros. Baker spoke highly of the Astros, calling them a “good team” and saying it would be an “honor” to manage them.
Dusty Baker arrived in Houston on Sunday ahead of his interview with the Astros: “They got a good team. They’ve always had a good team and I’ve enjoyed watching them to play and it would be a privilege and an honor to be the manager of this team.”
Much more from Baker: pic.twitter.com/K7Hh9ZJQ6m
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) January 20, 2020
In addition to the Astros, the Red Sox and Mets have manager vacancies after parting ways with their respective skippers over their involvement in the Astros cheating scandal. Baker says he has not heard from the Red Sox or Mets.
Dusty Baker said he hasn’t heard from Mets or Red Sox and is focused on Astros: “Everybody likes to feel like they’re wanted and I talked to Mr. Crane and he made me feel that I was wanted here.” pic.twitter.com/J9WbZjUk5U
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) January 20, 2020
Baker is 70 and viewed as an old-school manager, so leading the Astros — a forward-thinking and analytics-oriented organization — seems like it would be an odd fit on the surface. But Baker went 192-132 in his last stop with the Washington Nationals and is 1863-1636 overall as an MLB manager. In other words, he’s a proven winner, and that may be what Houston wants.
