The architect of the 2022 World Series Champions will have a new home.
The Houston Astros headed out in different directions from James Click on Friday, under a week subsequent to winning the title.
“We are grateful for all of James’ contributions,” Crane said in a statement. “We have had great success in each of his three seasons, and James has been an important part of that success. I want to personally thank him and wish him and his family well moving forward.”
Click’s agreement expired upon season’s end (technically, it finished on Oct. 31, the day of Game 3 of the World Series), and it’s been long rumored that Click and owner Jim Crane have had their reasonable share of differences.
Click was offered a one-year deal, yet he rejected the offer and made his gripes known to the public, which brought about his flight.
“We’re different,” Click said of his relationship with Crane on Tuesday. “Jim is — well, look, let me clarify. There’s some things that we do very differently. There’s some things that we are very lined up on, and that’s gonna be true of any relationship between a boss and an employee. I think he likes to act very quickly. In certain cases, I tend toward a more deliberate approach. He is very demanding, but he also gives you the resources to accomplish what he tasks you to do.”
Houston re-signed manager Dusty Baker to a one-year deal. The 73-year-old won his first World Series as a manager on Saturday. He won one as a player for the Los Angeles Dodger in 1981.
Click had supplanted Jeff Luhnow, who was suspended from baseball and fired by the Astros after it was uncovered the team had run a sign-stealing scheme in transit to their World Series win in 2017. He previously had been the VP of baseball operations for the Tampa Bay Rays.
In Click’s three seasons with Houston, they came to a Game 7 of the ALCS in the wake of being down 3-0 to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020, and followed that up with consecutive pennants.
The Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.