Dusty Baker praises Astros after tough season

HOUSTON – Dusty Baker spoke to his players in the Houston clubhouse afterward Astros‘ final defeat on Monday, which some in the room believed was his last speech as manager, as they have privately speculated for weeks.

Baker thanked them for their efforts and talked about their struggle through a grueling and grueling season, but didn’t seem quite ready to say out loud that his 26-year managerial career was over, because he knew it Texas Rangers was We’re celebrating the American League Championship out in the field.

“I don’t want to steal the spotlight from anyone,” Baker, 74, mused, before admitting he hadn’t spent the time with his grandchildren they deserved and wondering aloud whether his two hounds would recognize him if he did returned home. Baker’s contract is expiring and he is expected to have a discussion with owner Jim Crane and general manager Dana Brown.

But Baker also seemed a little taken aback by the ugliness and abruptness of the Astros’ reign as champions. Minute Maid Park has often seemed like a sanctuary for a team that has won two World Series and five AL championships over the last seven seasons. But there have been so many losses at their home park this year, including all four games in the ALCS and the 11-4 wipeout in Game 7.

The Astros’ failure on Monday was total, a shocking disintegration that belied their experience and perhaps reflected an exhaustion that stood in stark contrast to the Rangers’ frantic concentration that seemed to begin before the game.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy stood behind the cage during pregame batting practice and persuaded coach Tony Beasley to throw high fastballs to hitters in anticipation of Houston’s typically effective high fastball Cristian Javier. A few of Beasley’s throws sank, and Bochy pointedly waved his hand up to tell the coach: Increase your throws.

Coincidence or not, Javier’s fourth pitch of the game was a high 93 mph fastball and Corey Seager attacked and drove the ball into the right field stands – and the Rangers kept swinging, getting hits again and again. Last year, Javier contributed most of a World Series no-hitter in the Astros’ championship run, and in that seventh game he faced fewer hitters (six) than the 28-year-old reliever JP France (eight).

Chas McCormickwhose defense helped the Astros defeat that Phillies In last year’s World Series, he got a bad read on a pop fly, and after it fell, McCormick threw to the wrong base. Kyle Tucker was Houston’s best position player during the regular season, and he looked completely lost in the postseason, batting 143 times, which meant five hits in 35 at-bats and no home runs. When he struck out in the fourth inning of Game 7, the ball bounced away from the catcher Jonah Heim but Tucker had no chance of reaching first because he had turned around with his head down and was walking back to the dugout, apparently wanting to get out of sight as quickly as possible.

Baker will give a speech in Cooperstown one day, but he also seemed to be off base – perhaps removing the replacement Phil Maton too soon after Maton replaced Javier; I choose not to throw it around Adolis Garcia Despite the home runs, Garcia started all over Minute Maid Park; Left France for too long; and repeatedly refused the pinch hit Yainer Diaz for the light striking Martin Maldonado even as the Astros’ run deficit increased.

Painted on some walls in the park is the Astros’ work mantra: Ready 2 Reign 2023. For example, trying to win two championships in a row, something that hasn’t happened in Major League Baseball since 1998-2000. The Astros became the sport’s youngest defending champions to fail to mount an adequate defense.

“It’s a challenge – this season is a challenge,” Maldonado said. “We play more games than any other professional sport. At the moment you look at players from other teams and they are already training. If you play until November, your body has to take a lot of punishment. As a team, we played the most games [of any team] the last six or seven years. It’s a tough sport.”

Justin Verlander said: “I think what some other sports have is that talent in other sports wins more often than not, especially like football and basketball… Baseball is very hot and cold. You get hot at the right moment. That’s why you see.” “Wildcard teams have been really dominant in recent years. … You have good starting pitching and anyone can hit anyone.”

But the Astros never seemed quite, ever complete this year. Jose Altuve suffered a broken thumb at the World Baseball Classic and missed many weeks. Jose AbreuSigned as a free agent in the offseason, he played terribly for two-thirds of the season. Framber Valdez struggled most of the season, and the bullpen – a big difference for Houston when Houston won the World Series last year – wasn’t nearly as good. Incredibly, the Astros finished their home games under .500.

Alex Bregman said he viewed this season as “not achieving our goal of winning the World Series. I thought the fight lasted all year. I just think we haven’t reached the highest level that we have.”

When the Astros get back together next spring and begin the arduous process of pushing the championship rock back up the hill, their roster will look largely the same. Verlander, acquired during the 2023 season, is under contract for at least another year, and Bregman has one more season with Houston before he is eligible for free agency. Organizational sources believe Michael Brantley will retire and the Astros’ front office could replace catcher Maldonado, who has caused contention between Baker and club officials. Baker has favored Maldonado — which he proved in the postseason by keeping him in the lineup — because of his strong rapport with the pitchers, while the front office is pushing for more offense from that position.

And it may be that Baker’s long career is coming to an end. After the Astros won the World Series last year, Baker received a one-year extension. This year, Crane and Brown have not publicly said with certainty that they will seek another manager.

Baker was hired by Crane in the winter of 2020 after the sign-stealing scandal broke and led to the firing of manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. Baker did exactly what Crane had hoped for, diverting attention from a group of players besieged by boos at every park except Minute Maid, while promoting continued success. The Astros reached the AL Championship Series in 2020, secured the AL title in 2021 and won the World Series in 2022.

However, the timing of Baker’s hiring left him isolated within the organization for a long time. Most of the coaches were hired under Hinch, his predecessor, and now he reports to Brown, who was hired by Crane last year.

Baker sidestepped some questions about some of his decisions in Game 7 and spoke in more detail about the year. “We’ve been spoiled here as far as winning…” he said. “We have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be surprised about. We played from behind all season…It was a challenge.”

If Altuve, Verlander and others get back together, it may be another manager who talks to them and moves them forward.