The Houston Astros were subject to some of the most significant penalties in MLB history this past offseason for their role in electronically stealing signs at Minute Maid Park during the 2017 season.
The organization was fined $5 million, the maximum amount permitted under MLB’s constitution, and stripped of multiple draft picks over the next two years. General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were additionally suspended, only to subsequently be fired by Astros owner Jim Crane.
Houston filled the managerial position by hiring former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Dusty Baker as their 24th skipper in franchise history. The now-70-year-old signed a one-year contract that contains a club option for the 2021 season.
Because the Astros advanced to the World Series last season, Baker will now have the unique opportunity to manage the American League in the 2020 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium — assuming it is played.
Baker, who spent eight seasons with the Dodgers, recently said he is looking forward to possibly returning to Chavez Ravine later this summer, via Alyson Footer of MLB.com:
“That’s kinda cool too, ain’t it? The last All-Star Game I managed, I went to the World Series with the Giants [in 2002], but then I left and went to the Cubs and I had a Cubs uniform on at the White Sox park [at the All-Star Game in ’03]. Now, here I am, coming back to Dodger Stadium. I had been asked before this job; I was going to manage the Futures Game. Now I’m managing in the real game.”
As Baker alluded to, the 2020 All-Star Game will be the second Midsummer Classic in which he will serve as a manager. He previously managed the National League during the 2003 All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field in what marked his first year as Chicago Cubs manager.
This campaign would be Baker’s first as a Major League manager since the 2017 season. He led the Washington Nationals to a 97-65 record that year, only to be eliminated by the Cubs in the NL Division Series.
Baker was dismissed shortly after and eventually replaced by Dave Martinez, who led the Nationals to their first World Series championship in franchise history last season.
Of course, how many games Baker manages this year — much less if the All-Star Game is held — is unclear as MLB continues to grapple with navigating the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
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