Brad Ausmus is headed back to the American League West, and this time the destination is Houston.
The Astros have hired Ausmus as their next manager, bringing in a familiar name who most recently served as a bench coach with the New York Yankees. He’ll take over in 2027, giving Houston a former catcher with deep ties to the organization and plenty of experience in the division.
Ausmus is no stranger to this kind of job. Before this move, he managed the Los Angeles Angels in 2019, and he also spent four seasons running the Detroit Tigers from 2014 to 2017. In Detroit, he posted a 314-332 record and guided the Tigers to the postseason in 2014 during a 90-win season.
His stop with the Angels came at a difficult moment for the franchise. Ausmus had first joined the organization in 2018 as a special assistant to then-general manager Billy Epler.
That was the same year Mike Scioscia stepped away after managing the club since 2000, and Ausmus was handed the job for 2019. The results were rough: Los Angeles finished 72-90, its worst mark since the 1999 season.
After that year, Ausmus and the Angels went their separate ways.
He stayed in the game, though, and kept circling back to the AL West. Ausmus returned to the division in 2022 as a bench coach with the Oakland Athletics before moving on to the Yankees, where he spent the last three seasons.
This Houston opportunity comes with a different kind of outlook. The Astros made the postseason, and they’re coming out of what was the weakest division in baseball last season.
Ausmus also brings a built-in connection to the club from his playing days, when he spent 10 seasons in Houston. As the Astros’ catcher in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he won three Gold Glove Awards and put up a 5.0 bWAR.
For Houston, the hope is that the reunion gives the club a lift in 2027.
Meanwhile, the Angels still have a managerial opening to sort out. Reports say last season’s manager Kurt Suzuki will return to the Angels in a special assistant role, but the team still needs to find its next skipper before the rest of the market thins out.
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