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Astros Shift Focus To GM Vacancy After Making Dusty Baker Skipper

The Astros' focus will "shift to the general manager vacancy" now that Dusty Baker has been named the club's manager, a search Astros Owner Jim Crane "acknowledged will be lengthier," according to Chandler Rome of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Interviews to replace former President of Baseball Operations & GM Jeff Luhnow were "interspersed throughout the Astros' managerial search." But Crane earlier this month said that his GM process "will be lengthy." Crane: "My goal is by the time spring training's over, everything's running smoothly." Rome notes if Crane's search for a manager is "any indication, he will pool a wide range of candidates with differing strengths." Four candidates have "already been rumored or reported as targets for Luhnow's vacancy." Whomever Crane chooses will "inherit an operation with contending dreams, devastating penalties and crucial decisions," including financially, as the Astros' payroll is just over the second luxury tax threshold. In his few public appearances since dismissing Luhnow and former manager A.J. Hinch, Crane has "exuded confidence and heaped praise upon the remaining members of Luhnow's baseball operations department." Crane will "continue to oversee the operations until he makes a GM hire" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/30).

RIGHT FOR THE ROLE: In Ft. Worth, Stefan Stevenson notes the reaction to the Baker hiring was "generally positive from baseball media," as Baker is "viewed as a classy baseball lifer" (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/30). The CHRONICLE's Rome writes under the header, "New Skipper Dusty Baker Gives Astros Stabilizing Presence." Baker "arrives as a slice of serenity amid acrimony, a man who Crane hopes can galvanize an Astros clubhouse still searching for a way forward" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/30). ESPN.com's Buster Olney wrote Crane is "smart to hire a manager with experience, someone who can guide players through what will be the most trying challenge of their respective careers." Baker has a "broad range of experience that goes way beyond baseball." Crane "presumably understands that as the Astros move forward, they need a makeover within the industry" (ESPN.com, 1/29).

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