With free agency opening Monday and the General Managers Meetings coming up the following week in Las Vegas, the Astros may be close to wrapping up their hunt for Dana Brown’s replacement.
At the front of the pack is Brewers assistant general manager Matt Kleine, according to a report Thursday from The Athletic. Kleine was part of a Milwaukee team that won the World Series earlier this week, and a source said he recently signed an extension with the Brewers, which would force Houston to buy him out of that new contract.
Houston has spent the past few weeks talking to candidates after Brown was removed on Aug. 24.
Since then, assistant GMs Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff have taken on Brown’s duties, while senior advisor Jeff Bagwell has also been helping oversee baseball operations with owner Jim Crane. Brown had been the team’s GM since Jan.
26, 2023.
Cook and Dickey were among the internal candidates who interviewed for the job, MLB.com reported last week. More recently, former Nationals GM Mike Rizzo came through Houston earlier this week for an interview, according to a source. Kleine also had a visible connection to the organization this month, as he was spotted on the red carpet with Crane at the Houston Sports Awards.
Kleine, who is 40, checks a lot of boxes for Crane’s current thinking. The Brewers won the World Series with the 19th-largest payroll in MLB in 2026, and the success of Milwaukee along with other smaller-market clubs such as Cleveland and Tampa Bay this season caught Crane’s eye.
“I think you’re watching some pretty good teams that don’t have big payrolls,” Crane said on Aug. 25 in his first comments since Brown’s departure. “That’s certainly something we’ll study very hard."
Crane also made clear in August that “experience is valuable but not necessary” for the next GM. That fits the pattern in Houston: his previous three hires - Jeff Luhnow, James Click and Brown - all arrived without prior GM experience. Kleine doesn’t have that background either, but his resume is long and varied.
He started as an intern in the Astros’ media relations department in 2007, then spent his 20th season with the Brewers before being elevated to assistant GM on Nov. 1, 2023.
His job description includes roster construction, Major League transactions, financial planning, player evaluation, contract negotiation, staffing and procedural compliance. He also oversees salary arbitration.
Kleine’s path in Milwaukee has been steady and layered. He joined the organization as an associate scout in 2007 and stayed in that role through 2009.
From there, he moved through baseball operations and amateur scouting internships from 2009-11, then worked as a baseball operations assistant from 2011-13. After that came stints as coordinator of advance scouting and baseball contracts from 2013-14, manager of baseball operations from 2014-17, director of baseball operations from 2018-19 and vice president of baseball operations from 2020-23.
Brown’s time in Houston began when he was hired to replace Click after the Astros’ 2022 World Series win over the Phillies. Before coming over, Brown spent four seasons from 2019-22 as Atlanta’s vice president of scouting, a run that included overseeing the drafting of Michael Harris II, the 2022 National League Rookie of the Year, and pitcher Spencer Strider, who finished as runner-up.
He opened his Houston tenure by signing Cristian Javier to an extension and suggesting more could follow. But he was not able to hold the core together. Alex Bregman left in free agency after the 2024 season, and the same offseason brought the trade of right fielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs.
That Tucker deal ultimately brought back right fielder Cam Smith, third baseman Isaac Paredes and starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski. Still, Brown’s attempt to restock the farm system never really took off, and several of his pitching moves last winter didn’t pay off.
Right-hander Ryan Weiss, who signed last offseason to a one-year, $2.6 million deal with a $5 million option for 2027, posted a 7.62 ERA in 26 innings before being designated for assignment in June. He finished the year with Triple-A Sugar Land, where he had a 5.42 ERA in 76 1/3 innings, and the Astros did not pick up his 2027 option.
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