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Two Candidates Emerge to Replace Dusty Baker as Houston Astros' Manager

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Joe Espada and Brad Ausmus are two early candidates to replace Dusty Baker as manager of the Houston Astros.
Brady Farkas|
Two Candidates Emerge to Replace Dusty Baker as Houston Astros' Manager
Two Candidates Emerge to Replace Dusty Baker as Houston Astros' Manager

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Houston AstrosDetroit Tigers

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, a pair of candidates have already emerged to replace Dusty Baker as manager of the Houston Astros.

Brad Ausmus and Joe Espada will be strong candidates for the Astros' managerial opening. Ausmus finished runner-up to Dusty Baker as manager, and also a runner-up to Dana Brown as GM.

Ausmus is more the well-known of the names, given that he was a longtime player and previously served as manager of both the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels.

He's been a big league manager for five seasons, going 386-422. He spent four years with the Tigers and one with the Angels. He took the 2014 Tigers to the playoffs, but they were swept in three games.

As a player, he spent 18 years in the big leagues with the Padres, Tigers, Astros, and Dodgers. He was a three-time Gold Glove winner and an All-Star in 1999. He was a .251 career hitter who hit 80 career home runs.

Espada was another candidate in the team’s last managerial search, and he has interviewed for numerous other managing jobs in the years since, according to MLBTradeRumors.

There are likely to be other strong candidates as well, given how desirable the Astros job. The team is coming off seven straight trips to the ALCS (four under Baker), and has been to the World Series twice in the last three years, winning in 2022.

The 'Stros figure to be strong again in 2024, given that all the key players will be back. Injured players like Lance McCullers and Luis Garcia could also make returns to help the cause and there will be a full season of Justin Verlander, who was re-acquired at the trade deadline this year.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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