The Houston Astros hired longtime St. Louis Cardinals executive Randy Flores as their next general manager.
Flores, 51, spent the past 11 seasons in the Cardinals' front office, including an eight-year run as their assistant GM.
He takes over the position after the Astros and former GM Dana Brown agreed to part ways in August. A committee of executives, including owner Jim Crane and senior advisor Jeff Bagwell, ran Houston's baseball operations during the interim.
"Randy has had a huge impact on the Cardinals over the last 10 seasons," Crane said. "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."
Flores' hiring comes less than 24 hours after Milwaukee Brewers executive Matt Kleine had emerged as the front-runner. Kleine was offered the Houston job on Wednesday, sources told Chandler Rome of The Athletic. But those negotiations then went south - sources told Rome that Kleine may have wanted more money or the title of president of baseball operations - which opened the door for Flores to get the job.
Before beginning his executive career, Flores was a left-handed pitcher who spent parts of eight seasons in the majors. He was part of the Cardinals' World Series-winning bullpen in 2006. He then moved into coaching at USC and developed OnDeck Digital, a video capture technology that has since been embraced by MLB scouting departments.
Flores first joined the Cardinals' front office as their scouting director in 2015.
The Cardinals hired Randy Flores in 2015 to replace Chris Correa, who received a 46-month prison sentence after hacking into an Astros personnel and scouting database in 2013 and 2014.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) October 31, 2026
He takes over an Astros franchise that won a division title this past season and is led by likely AL MVP Yordan Alvarez, but is nonetheless in need of a reboot. Houston made some inglorious history this year by becoming the first team in MLB history to win its division without a winning record. The 81-81 Astros were swept in the wild-card series by the Chicago White Sox and were booed by their home crowd during the series.
Houston's made the playoffs in nine of the last 10 seasons, winning four AL pennants and two World Series titles over that span. But its current roster includes several aging and high-priced stars from that run, including Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. The team's farm system was ranked 29th out of 30 teams by MLB.com in August.
The first order of business for Flores will almost certainly be hiring a new manager. Joe Espada, who managed the club for the last three seasons, was let go after the season.
