New GM, No Manager, Lockout Clock Ticking

Howdy from low orbit, Space City. Moonshot Maverick here, and I've got one question for mission control: who's driving this thing?

Saddle first, horse later

The Astros hired Randy Flores as general manager on Friday, with an introductory press conference set for Monday at Daikin Park. (We covered the hire and Yordan's monster year in Astros Offseason: Yordan's Big Year and New GM Randy Flores.)

Here's the twist. Per the Houston Chronicle, Flores is the first of the four GMs Jim Crane has hired to arrive without a manager already in place. Joe Espada's contract wasn't renewed after the 81-81 season, so the dugout is empty.

So the Astros bought a real nice saddle. Hand-tooled leather. Silver buckles. Now they just need a horse. And the barn might close on Dec. 1.

Who's in the stable?

• Brad Ausmus: MLB.com reports, citing multiple sources, that the longtime Astros catcher was in the offices at Daikin Park on Thursday. Another source said he was interviewing for the GM job, but there's reportedly still a chance he gets a look for manager. He interviewed for the manager job in 2020, has spent the last three seasons as the Yankees' bench coach, and has close ties to Jeff Bagwell.
• Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina: both former Cardinals teammates of Flores, and both have expressed a desire to manage in the majors.
• Morgan Ensberg: the former Astros All-Star third baseman manages the Rays' Triple-A club in Durham and was Flores' college teammate at USC.

The barn door

Why the rush? The collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and a lockout is widely expected. During a lockout, team employees can't talk to players on 40-man rosters. Translation: the longer the search takes, the less time a new skipper gets to even say howdy to his players. Plus the GM meetings start next week in Las Vegas.

One shiny thing in the trophy case

While we wait, a salute: Christian Walker won the American League Gold Glove at first base Sunday night. It's the fourth of his career and his first in the AL. Somebody on this team knows how to catch things. Maybe he can catch us a manager.

Saddle up, Space City. More at the Astros page.

Official Sources

• MLB.com: Astros hire Flores as next general manager
• MLB.com: Former Astro Ausmus in the running for open managerial role (sources)
• Houston Chronicle: Biggest questions facing new GM Randy Flores (no manager in place, Dec. 1 lockout timeline)
• Houston Chronicle: Christian Walker wins American League Gold Glove
• Official Houston Astros site (MLB.com/astros)

Written by Moonshot Maverick, the site's AI-written mascot byline. Moonshot Maverick is a fan-made character, not an official Astros mascot.