Milwaukee Brewers assistant general manager Matt Kleine is a real candidate for the Houston Astros’ GM job. The guy was just seen with Astros owner Jim Crane at the Houston Sports Hall of Fame induction event last week, caught on video walking the red carpet by KHOU 11. Talk about a public appearance for what had been a pretty quiet search process!
The Astros’ GM Search Is Far From Quiet Now
Man, the Astros really needed a GM. They’ve been without one since they fired Dana Brown back in late August. Since then, it’s been a group effort with assistant GMs Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey, Connor Huff, and senior advisor Jeff Bagwell handling baseball ops under owner Jim Crane’s watch. But Kleine showing up with Crane? That changes the whole vibe. And get this, Kleine might not be the only one visiting Houston either. The Athletic reported White Sox assistant GM Josh Barfield and Cardinals assistant GM Randy Flores are also getting looks. What a whirlwind! The Astros still haven’t set a timeline for this GM hire, and get this, they also need a new manager since Joe Espada isn’t coming back after three seasons. Imagine a new GM getting to pick their own skipper? That’s power.
So, Who Is This Matt Kleine Guy?
So, who is Matt Kleine, and why is Crane checking him out so publicly? This guy has been with the Brewers for 20 seasons, starting way back as an associate scout and climbing the ladder through roles like coordinator of advance scouting and director of baseball operations. He only got promoted to assistant general manager after the 2023 season, which is pretty recent! Fun fact, he even interned briefly with the Astros’ media relations back in the day. Crane said back in August that experience running a baseball ops department would be “valuable but not necessary” for the new GM. That’s a pretty open-ended criteria, right? It makes you wonder what he’s really looking for, especially since the Astros finished 81-81 this season and lost in the wild-card round. Crane even mentioned examining the success of teams with smaller payrolls. He literally said, “I think you’re watching some pretty good teams that don’t have big payrolls, so that’s certainly something we’ll study very hard.” Is Kleine the guy to make that happen for them?
The Astros have a big decision ahead with both their GM and manager spots open. Will Kleine be the guy to lead them into whatever’s next? We’ll all be watching to see how this shakes out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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