The Astros have moved quickly into their search for a new general manager, and one of the biggest names on the board is Mike Rizzo.
Houston is interviewing the former Washington Nationals GM for its vacant front office job Monday, USA Today reported. Bob Nightengale, citing two people with direct knowledge, said Rizzo is meeting with the club in Houston. The people requested anonymity because the Astros want to keep the search private.
Rizzo, 65, had already popped up in another GM search earlier this offseason. He interviewed for the Athletics’ opening, then took himself out of the running afterward, saying he preferred the Houston job, according to USA Today.
His resume in Washington runs deep. Rizzo spent nearly 20 years in the Nationals’ front office, became general manager in 2009 and was added as president of baseball operations in 2013.
He helped build the 2019 Nationals team that beat Houston in a seven-game World Series, the franchise’s only title. Washington fired Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez in July 2025.
That Washington run included some of the biggest moves in franchise history. Rizzo drafted Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper with consecutive No. 1 overall picks, and in 2022 he dealt Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in a package that brought back James Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore.
USA Today also reported that Rizzo lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the Astros and Nationals share a spring training complex.
Houston’s opening has been there since late August, when the club and Dana Brown agreed to part ways one day after a loss to the A’s dropped the Astros to 65-66. Brown had been in the job since January 2023. At the time, the team said assistant general managers Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff, along with senior adviser Jeff Bagwell, would handle his responsibilities, with owner Jim Crane overseeing baseball operations.
The season ended in the American League Wild Card Series, where the Chicago White Sox swept the Astros in two games. Earlier this month, the club also announced it would not renew manager Joe Espada’s contract, leaving Crane to fill both the manager and GM roles.
Rizzo isn’t the only candidate Houston has looked at. USA Today reported the Astros have also interviewed Milwaukee Brewers assistant general manager Matt Klein. The club would like to have its GM in place before the annual general managers meetings in Las Vegas next month.
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