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The Houston Astros announced former Tampa Bay Rays executive James Click will be the new club’s general manager. This replacement came after the firing of Jeff Luhnow following the cheating scandal that happened during the last World Series.
The Astros formally welcomed their new general manager to the family Tuesday night.
Starting to click into place! #ForTheH pic.twitter.com/NF1VC8wWvv
— Houston Astros (@astros) February 5, 2020
What’s next for Tampa Bay Rays?
Click spent his last 14 years with the Rays. He initially joined the Tampa Bay organization back in 2006 and worked his way up in the industry. Click served as vice president of baseball operations for Tampa Bay from 2017-2019.
Losing Click is the second major member loss that the Tampa Bay organization has experienced in a short term. The Rays senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom left the Rays on Oct. 2019 to be the chief baseball officer with the Boston Red Sox. And now, Tampa Bay is basically paying the price for the Astros unethical decision to steal signs by electric means during the World Series.
This is a huge shift for the Rays with spring training just days away. But, Click is looking forward to starting his new career with the Astros.
Click joins Dusty Baker
Prior to Click’s hiring, 70-year-old Dusty Baker took the place of AJ Hinch as the Astros’ manager.
Baker looks forward to working with Click and feels that he will be a great fit for the Astros organization. The relatively new manager believes he will have a good relationship with new hire Click.
With a new top executive, the Astros look to have a fresh clean start for the 2020 season.
As for the Rays, General manager Erik Neander promoted Jeremy Sowers and Sammi Bireley to the manager of major-league operations and manager of baseball administration, respectively. Bireley will handle many of the responsibilities that Click had. Also, Peter Bendix will now supervise the research and development department.
