Houston Astros Fire General Manager Week After Winning The World Series
Stunningly, the Houston Astros have fired General Manager James Click a week after winning the World Series.
That's not something you're going to see every day.
The Astros stormed their way to the 2022 World Series, losing just two games in the postseason after a 106 win regular season.
READ: HOUSTON ASTROS WIN THE 2022 WORLD SERIES, CELEBRATE MANAGER DUSTY BAKER
Click undoubtedly deserved a substantial amount of credit for the team's success. He let Carlos Correa leave in free agency, trusting rookie Jeremy Peña to take his place.
Peña went on to have a rookie of the year caliber season and be the most valuable hitter in the Astros lineup in the playoffs.
He helped build a dominant pitching staff of mostly homegrown players without lengthy track records.
Framber Valdez, Christian Javier and Luis Garcia were hardly household names, yet all were important contributors.
The Astros bullpen was also nearly unhittable at times, a testament to Click’s evaluation skills.
None of that seemed to matter.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 28: General Manager James Click of the Houston Astros looks on prior to Game One of the 2022 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Minute Maid Park on October 28, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Despite agreeing with manager Dusty Baker on a contract, team owner Jim Crane made an insulting offer to Click. Unsurprisingly, it was turned down, and Crane fired him in response.
Astros Ownership Bears Responsibility
There has to be more to this story.
Successful front office executives are among the most valuable commodities in baseball. As a result, they rarely change teams. Especially when they've won a World Series.
Building a roster that consistently wins divisions is unbelievably hard. Click has helped turn the Astros into a juggernaut, and now he's gone.
It's an extremely confusing decision by Jim Crane. The roster is still loaded for 2023, but with important free agency decisions coming up, leaving the front office leaderless is bizarre to say the least.
Click will now undoubtedly be the most highly sought after executive in the game. Except apparently to the team he just led to a World Series.