The Astros have their new general manager. Houston hired Cardinals assistant GM Randy Flores on Friday night, ending a search that began when the club parted ways with Dana Brown in August, according to MLB.com and The Associated Press.
Flores, 51, becomes the 15th GM in franchise history and the fourth hired by owner Jim Crane, per ESPN. He will be introduced alongside Crane at a press conference Monday at 10 a.m. at Daikin Park. It will stream on Astros.com and the Astros’ Facebook, YouTube and X accounts.
What Crane and Flores Said
“Randy has had a huge impact on the Cardinals over the last 10 seasons,” Crane said in a statement. “Throughout the entire interview process, we’ve been thoroughly impressed with Randy and his background in scouting and player acquisition. We’re happy to welcome Randy and his family to the Astros and we can’t wait to get to work on bringing another championship to Houston.”
“I am excited and grateful for this amazing opportunity,” Flores said. “The Astros have a long winning tradition under Jim Crane, and I look forward to contributing to the success. I want to thank the Cardinals organization for the opportunities and support that made this next chapter possible. My family and I are excited to make Houston home.”
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Who Is Randy Flores?
Flores spent eight seasons (2019-26) as the Cardinals’ assistant GM of amateur and pro acquisition after joining St. Louis’ front office as director of scouting in 2015. His drafts included Tommy Edman in the sixth round in 2016 and Lars Nootbaar in the eighth round in 2018.
There’s some history in that first job. Flores took over as scouting director from Chris Correa, who was fired and later sent to prison for hacking into the Astros’ internal database, as MLB Trade Rumors pointed out.
Before the front office, Flores was a left-handed reliever who appeared in over 200 major league games over parts of eight seasons (2002-10) with the Cardinals, Rockies, Rangers and Twins. After his playing career, he returned to his alma mater, USC, where he earned a master’s degree in 2014, served as pitching coach in 2013, worked as a college baseball analyst for ESPN and Pac-12 Networks, and founded a sports video technology company.
A Return to St. Louis Roots
Crane, who grew up in St. Louis, has gone back to the Cardinals before. His first GM hire, Jeff Luhnow, also came from St. Louis and built the roster that won the 2017 World Series.
Flores was not the reported favorite this week. On Thursday morning, The Athletic’s Chandler Rome reported that Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine was Houston’s top choice. Read our earlier story on Kleine and our full rundown of the GM search.
What’s Next
The first job is finding a manager. Joe Espada’s contract was not renewed after three seasons, after the AL West champion Astros went 81-81 and were swept by the White Sox in the Wild Card Series. Houston also has several coaching staff openings, including bench coach. The General Managers Meetings begin Nov. 10 in Las Vegas. LFG Houston will update this story as it develops.
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