The Astros’ front office search has led them back to a familiar name.
Houston is looking at former Marlins executive Oz Ocampo for an assistant general manager role as the organization continues to reshape its baseball operations group. Ocampo, who now works as a senior advisor with the Colorado Rockies, interviewed with Astros owner Jim Crane on Monday, according to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome (subscription required).
Ocampo already knows Houston well. He helped guide the club’s international scouting work during his first run with the organization and later returned in multiple roles. He was with the Astros from 2012 to 2017 as their international scouting executive under former general manager Jeff Luhnow, then came back in 2019 as a special assistant to Luhnow and worked with the team again in 2022.
His résumé in that area is a big part of why he’s in the mix. Ocampo has worked in Major League Baseball since 2004 and built a reputation for spotting talent in Latin America and across the Western Hemisphere. During his time in Houston, his international signings included Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, José Urquidy, Luis Garcia, José Abreu, Yuli Gurriel and Wilyer Abreu, among others.
Between his different stints with the Astros, Ocampo added more front-office experience elsewhere. He spent time as a special assistant in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ front office before joining the Marlins, where he served as assistant general manager under Kim Ng, a former New York Yankees executive who also worked under general manager Brian Cashman.
He later moved on to the Rockies, where he currently holds a senior advisory role. If Houston does bring him back, it would add an executive with a long track record in international scouting, player acquisition and front-office work to an organization that already knows exactly what he brings.
Ocampo has also been active in the public baseball conversation. After the Los Angeles Dodgers won their second straight World Series title, he pushed back on criticism that the club had simply bought its way to the championship with expensive signings.
He’s one of several names tied to Houston’s search for a replacement for Dana Brown. The Astros have also interviewed internal candidates Gavin Dickey and Charles Cook, while outside candidates include Brewers assistant general manager Matt Kleine, former Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, Josh Barfield of the Chicago White Sox, Randy Flores of the St. Louis Cardinals, Scott Sharp of the Kansas City Royals, Ben Sestanovich of the Atlanta Braves and Kevin Ibach of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rizzo interviewed for the job on October 26. The Astros are expected to announce their decision soon.
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