The Astros hired Randy Flores as their new general manager on Friday evening, ending a search that had stretched through the week and reshuffling a process that had pointed in another direction just a day earlier. Flores is set to be introduced with Jim Crane at a press conference Monday morning.
The hire puts a former Cardinals assistant GM in charge of Houston’s baseball operations at a moment when the club is looking to turn the page quickly. Crane said Flores had a huge impact on the Cardinals over the last 10 seasons and said the Astros were impressed with his background in scouting and player acquisition. He added that the team was ready to get to work on bringing another championship to Houston.
That announcement came after Chandler Rome, Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported just before the move that Flores was a serious candidate for the position. Their reporting followed a Thursday morning note from The Athletic that had named Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine as the frontrunner. Kleine had also been viewed as someone seeking the title of president of baseball operations earlier in the week, and the report said he never removed his name from consideration.
The shift from Kleine to Flores suggests Houston’s search moved quickly once the Astros settled on a final choice. It also underscores how much weight the club placed on Flores’ background, even after another candidate had appeared to be in front. For Houston, the search is over. For Flores, the job now becomes immediate: he steps into one of baseball’s most visible front-office roles before Monday’s introduction makes the hire official in public.
