The Houston Astros have found a new general manager: The team announced Friday that they will hire Randy Flores to fill the position. Flores, 51, will become the 15th GM in franchise history after a decade with the St. Louis Cardinals.
A former 2006 World Series champion pitcher with the Cardinals, Flowers became St. Louis’ director of scouting in 2015 to begin his pre-service career. He was promoted to general manager in 2018.
“Randy has had an impact on the Cardinals over the last 10 seasons,” Astros owner and president Jim Crane wrote in a statement. “Throughout the interview process we were thoroughly impressed with Randy and his background in scouting and player acquisition. We are happy to welcome Randy and his family to the Astros and can’t wait to bring Houston to another championship.”
Flowers replaces Dana Brown, who left in August after Houston fell below .500. Ouster Brown appeared to mark the end of an era for the Astros, who went from two World Series titles five years apart (in 2017 and 2022) to two short records under Brown.
Advertisement
Before landing on Flores, the Astros had reportedly hired Milwaukee Brewers executive Matt Kleine for the executive position, and even offered him the job shortly before the Brewers’ World Series this week, per The Athletic. Kleine reportedly asked for a salary or the title of president of baseball operations (which Crane didn’t give to previous GMs), leading the Astros to wave at Flores.
The Astros went on to win the AL West and advance to the season finale, though they finished 81-81. They were swept by the Chicago White Sox on the wild card.