The Houston Astros announced on Friday afternoon that they were parting ways with general manager James Click. The news comes within a week of the Astros winning the 2022 World Series with Click as their top baseball decision-maker. The Astros gave Click a slap in the face when they decided to offer him a one-year deal after the World Series parade.
“We have had great success in each of his three seasons, and James has been an important part of that success. I want to personally thank him and wish him and his family well moving forward,” said Astros owner Jim Crane.
Click, 42, was named the Astros’ 13th GM in team history in February of 2020 and then led the team to three straight AL Championship Series and the last two World Series.
Before joining the Astros organization, Click spent 14 seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays including 2017-2019 as their vice president of baseball operations. Click wrote for Baseball Prospectus for several years before joining the Rays.
The speculation of whether David Stearns will leave the Brewers for the Astros top job has already started given that he was the assistant GM in Houston before getting the job in Milwaukee. Stearns announced earlier this offseason that he was going to step down as the president of baseball operations, but stick around with the team as an advisor. Stearns is under contract with the Brewers for the 2023 season and their owner has made it clear when the Mets were previously interested that Milwaukee would seek compensation for hiring Stearns.
There hasn’t been any speculation as to where Click will end up to this point, though you have to imagine he will be highly sought after by many teams this offseason.
