The Houston Astros are coming off a disappointing Game 7 loss in the American League Championship Series and now are tasked with replacing manager Dusty Baker after he retired.
The Astros' offseason only begins there, but replacing Baker — a future Hall of Fame manager — will prove difficult. He received unfair criticism from Astros fans during the 2023 season, but let's take a wide-angle view of the job that he stepped into: he was tasked with managing the Astros immediately after their sign-stealing scandal. They could have easily blown up and had their dynasty fall apart considering the magnitude of the fallout and scrutiny. Instead, Baker kept them together, brought another World Series to Houston, and brought them within another game of the World Series.
Baker should be celebrated, and replacing him will not be easy, and it's on Astros owner Jim Crane to get the hire right.
Let's dive into their offseason priorities.
3. How do the Astros replace Dusty Baker?
Immediately, two names surfaced to replace Baker: bench coach Joe Espada and former Angels and Tigers manager Brad Ausmus.
Espada is a highly respected coach who is viewed as a future manager by many baseball people. He's interviewed for numerous jobs and has learned under A.J. Hinch and Baker, and deserves a chance. Ausmus, meanwhile, would be an uninspiring hire considering his history in Los Angeles and Detroit, but clearly, Crane is high on him, as he was among the frontrunners to be their general manager before the team hired Dana Brown.
Another name to keep an eye on could be Ron Washington, the Atlanta Braves' bench coach, as he has ties to Brown, and is said to want to manage again. Besides, his track record in developing players, his success as Texas Rangers' manager, and his respect in the industry would warrant another opportunity.
2. Do the Astros extend Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker?
The Astros would be smart to explore extensions with the above three players, but that could be unlikely, at least for Altuve and Bregman, as they are represented by Scott Boras. Boras, of course, typically avoids extensions for his clients as he prefers to establish their values on the open market.
Dana Brown, however, has made it clear that he wants Altuve and Bregman to retire in Houston. So perhaps the Astros could make them an offer too good to be true. But that scenario feels extremely unlikely.
Which leaves us with Tucker. The Astros and Tucker have had conversations about an extension in the past, league sources tell FanSided, but the price to extend the star outfielder will be expensive. Really expensive. But Tucker is not represented by Boras — he's represented by Excel — and they have a history of doing extensions if the right offer presents itself, so this could be one to watch this winter.
1. Addressing the bullpen
A sneaky area to watch for the Astros this winter is the bullpen. Relievers Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents while Hector Neris is expected to decline an $8.5 million player option to become a free agent.
Of course, the Astros have strong internal options in Rafael Montero, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. They re-acquired reliever Kendall Graveman at the trade deadline. So they have a strong core of four relievers. But it would not be surprising to see the Astros attempt to re-sign one or two of the above relievers to keep the unit relatively intact heading into 2024.
Expect the Astros to poke around the bullpen market this winter, however, as their bullpen has been an important part of their long-sustained success.
