The Astros have been without a general manager since James Click was surprisingly dismissed just days after the club won the World Series. Reporting last week indicated that Michael Hill, former president of baseball operations for the Marlins, was one of the candidates for the position. However, Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports today that Hill has removed himself from consideration (Twitter links).
Hill, 51, would have brought plenty of experience to the role, having joined the Marlins in 2002. He worked his way up through various positions, including assistant general manager, general manager and president of baseball operations, holding that latter title until his contract was not renewed following the 2020 season.
He has since been working for Major League Baseball as senior vice president of on-field operations. He’s been connected to various front office openings over the past few years, including with the Angels, Mets, Phillies and now the Astros. However, Heyman reports that Hill is happy in his role with the league and would like to stick around as the new rules are implemented. The 2023 season will see the league implementing a pitch clock as well as limits on defensive shifts and pickoff attempts. It seems the Houston job isn’t enough to tempt Hill away from overseeing the transition to this new brand of baseball.
That leaves two known candidates connected to the job in Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown and former Giants general manager Bobby Evans. It’s possible that owner Jim Crane is considering others that haven’t been reported yet but it seems like Hill can be crossed off the list. Crane himself has seemingly been leading the baseball decision making since his disagreements with Click led to the vacancy a couple of months ago.
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