The Next Manager

Dusty Baker has retired

Dusty completes a remarkable career

Right now, it’s easy to take shots at Dusty Baker, and I’ve taken a few, but I also think it should be said that there were a lot of good things about having Dusty as the Astros manager.

I just think he stayed a year too long. While no one could foresee the injuries that would devastate the Astros 2023 rotation (and Michael Brantley), repeating was always going to be a long shot.

Going out on top is rarely done in sports, the drive that made the players/managers so great also tends to make them think they can continue to compete at the highest level despite the obvious.

The reality is Dusty helped bring a championship to the Astros and we should be grateful for that as Astros fans.

That said, past success shouldn’t obligate us to love him (as a manager) forever. Skills erode, whether physical or mental, the “market” (in this case MLB) changes and you either change with it or get left behind.

Organizations, baseball or not, get left behind when they refuse to change. I’m not saying you have to copy every latest trend or advanced metric. I am saying, basing your 2023 decisions on what Hank Aaron told you in 1974 may not work out a majority of the time. It’s a vastly different game.

"I've still got a lot to offer; baseball has been my life,'' Baker said. "I have a lifetime of knowledge, much more than those who have never played the game."

I found the last part of this quote “interesting”. As fans, we’ve all heard it before and we heard it from Dusty in several variations multiple times this season.

He’s right of course. He knows more than I ever will about baseball.

But that doesn’t mean every decision Baker made was the right one and it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be criticized or critiqued by writers or fans who pay exorbitant amounts of cash to see his team play.

It’s possible to believe both - Dusty was good for the Astros AND it’s time to move on.

The Candidates

Here is one list, which can be found here. There are many more such lists out there.

Who is your favorite?

Other News

It also appears that Michael Brantley is retiring, which will free up $12,000,000 in salary. It’s obvious Brantley’s body wouldn’t make it through 162 games, but he’d be a great bench piece/pinch hitter, an area that was disastrous for the Astros this season. The question is would Brantley be interested and what would it cost for a player with 12 years of service?

Other than Brantley, the free agents are:

• Hector Neris - Mutual option for $8.5 million, which he will likely decline and become a free agent.

• Martin Maldonado - It’s believed the Astros will move on from Maldonado.

• Phil Maton

• Ryne Stanek

The Brantley retirement opens up the possibility of more McCormick in left and Dubon in center when Yordan is the DH. All in all, not a bad thing (based on 2023). But now that Dusty has moved on, maybe Chas is the Astros starting centerfielder until proven otherwise. To be determined.

Moving on from Maldonado means a lot more Yainer Diaz in 2024, which is also a good thing.

In the coming days, I plan to write more about the free agents, both good and not-so-good.

Thanks for reading!