The Astros announced that Brad Ausmus has been hired as the club’s manager. Prior to the official announcement, John Granato of ESPN 97.5 Houston reported that Ausmus would be flying to Houston tomorrow to accept the gig, a report confirmed by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
The ties between Ausmus and the Astros go way back. During his playing days, he spent ten seasons as an Astro. He suited up for Houston in 1997 and 1998 and then again from 2001 to 2008. In his post-playing days, he has worked as a manager, coach and has done some front office work as well.
Those various post-playing jobs have come with the Padres, Tigers, Angels, Athletics and Yankees but there have been whispers connecting him to the Astros along the way. Astros owner Jim Crane bought the Astros in 2011, after Ausmus had retired, but Crane has a close relationship with Jeff Bagwell. Over the years, Bagwell has been a key advisor to Crane relating to club matters. Bagwell played for the Astros from 1991 to 2005 and therefore shared a clubhouse with Ausmus for many years.
Since Crane bought the team, the Astros have cycled through various managers, hiring Bo Porter, A.J. Hinch, Dusty Baker and Joe Espada. The Ausmus name would often come up when the job was open and he even got connected to the general manager position in Houston a few times but he continued to bounce around to other clubs.
It has now finally happened that Ausmus will return to the Astros organization. He brings a bit of managerial experience but not with an amazing track record. He was hired to be the bench boss in Detroit ahead of the 2014 season. The Tigers had won the Central in three straight years at that time. Ausmus led them to another division title in 2014 but they fell below .500 in 2015. They nudged back above .500 by winning 86 games in 2016 but missed the playoffs. 2017 turned out to be a dismal season. The Tigers lost 98 games and Ausmus wasn’t brought back after that.
He then got hired as a special assistant with the Angels for 2018. The Halos made him skipper for the 2019 campaign and signed Ausmus to a three-year deal but he was fired one year into that pact after the Angels went 72-90. Since then, Ausmus has been a bench coach. He had that job for the A’s in 2022 and then with the Yankees from 2024 to 2026.
Ausmus rejoins the Astros as it feels like their dynasty is slipping away. They made the ALCS in seven straight seasons from 2017 to 2023, winning two titles in there, but haven’t been back since. They won 88 games in 2024 and snagged a Wild Card spot but were quickly eliminated by the Tigers. They dropped to 87 wins and missed the playoffs last year. The American League West was historically bad this year, allowing the Astros to win the division with just 81 victories, but they were then swept out of the Wild Card round by the White Sox.
Espada’s contract expired after the 2026 season and he was not brought back. The club had also parted ways with general manager Dana Brown. The front office search was the first order of business. Randy Flores was hired for that job a couple of weeks ago. After that, Albert Pujols, Luis Urueta, Morgan Ensberg and Ausmus were connected to the managerial opening.
The Houston brass think Ausmus is the guy to lead the club forward. As he tries to do that, the roster feels like it’s in a state of flux. Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Peña, Isaac Paredes, Hunter Brown, Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz, Cristian Javier and Josh Hader are talented players but each of those guys is slated for free agency after 2027 or 2028. Carlos Correa’s contract has a convoluted option structure but 2028 is the final guaranteed year of his deal. Jose Altuve is signed through 2029.
Replacing those players internally will be tricky. Years of being in contention have put the club towards the back of the draft for quite a while. They also were penalized in relation to the sign-stealing scandal. As such, their farm system is not considered strong at the moment.
With potentially a lot of changes over the horizon, the Astros will naturally hope that Ausmus can fare better in the skipper role than he did with the Tigers or Angels. The Yankees, meanwhile, will need to search for a new bench coach.
Photos courtesy of Jamie Sabau, Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
