The Houston Astros are parting ways with general manager James Click less than a week after winning the World Series.
Astros owner Jim Crane thanked Click for his contributions as Houston’s GM over the past three years and wished him farewell in a Friday Twitter post.
“We are grateful for all of James’ contributions. 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,” he wrote in the post.
“We are grateful for all of James’ contributions. 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.” – Jim Crane pic.twitter.com/ShaiN4Uah8
— Houston Astros (@astros) November 11, 2022
ESPN reports that Crane tried offering Click a one-year deal, which Click declined. After having unsuccessful negotiations throughout the week, Crane decided to split from his World Series winning GM instead of continuing to work through contract negotiations.
The decision to let Click go is very surprising. Since he joined the club in 2020, the Astros have gone to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) three straight seasons and to the World Series in back-to-back years. You would imagine that the Astros organization would do everything in their power to keep their club together to try for championship again.
This is apparently the first time a defending champion is seeking to find a new general manager since 1947, when George Weiss replaced Larry MacPhail on the New York Yankees, according to the Boston Globe.
Whatever Click did for the club on a day-to-day basis helped them win a lot. Crane letting Click walk out of his office without a new contract could come back to haunt him. (RELATED: The Houston Astros Win The World Series Over The Philadelphia Phillies)
Hopefully, what looks like a mere contract quarrel won’t be the downfall of the Astros’ empire.