Luis Urueta To Interview For Astros’ Managerial Job

The Astros will interview Rangers’ bench coach Luis Urueta as part of their ongoing managerial search, reports Jon Morosi of The MLB Network. Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus also received an official interview, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported last week that Ausmus was in Houston to speak with the club before they hired Randy Flores as their general manager on Friday.

Hiring a manager is the most immediate task for Flores, who’s running a baseball operations department for the first time. Owner Jim Crane told reporters during Monday’s introductory press conference that Flores would have “full authority” to lead the front office (link via Chandler Rome of The Athletic).

Crane has a reputation as one of the most hands-on owners in MLB. To that end, he acknowledged interviewing multiple managerial candidates before the team hired Flores. Crane was running baseball operations for a couple months with input from senior advisor Jeff Bagwell and assistant GMs Charles Cook, Connor Huff, and Gavin Dickey.

Ausmus played parts of 10 seasons with the Astros. He’s a longtime teammate of Bagwell’s, though his tenure ended before Crane purchased the franchise in 2011. Ausmus has had multiple interviews with the Astros over the years. He spoke with the team about their managerial vacancy in 2020 before they hired Dusty Baker. Three years later, he was reportedly among the finalists for the GM position that went to Dana Brown.

That highlights Ausmus’ varied experience in both coaching and front office capacities. He has five seasons of MLB managerial experience — four with the Tigers (2014-17) and one season with the Angels (2019). Ausmus has spent the past three seasons as Aaron Boone’s bench coach in the Bronx. He’s also been a bench coach in Oakland and worked in front office roles with the Halos and Padres.

Urueta, who turns 46 in January, is a longtime coach. He had been a bench coach with the Diamondbacks and Marlins before reuniting with Skip Schumaker in Texas over the 2024-25 offseason. Urueta spent the ’25 campaign working as Bruce Bochy’s bench coach when Schumaker was in the front office; he retained the role when the Rangers hired Schumaker to manage last offseason.

The Colombian-born Urueta had a brief minor league playing career in the early 2000s. He managed a couple seasons in rookie ball with the D-Backs and for his home country in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Urueta is managing in the Dominican Winter League as well. He doesn’t have any MLB managerial experience, aside from a two-game interim stint with Miami to end the 2024 season while Schumaker was away for a family health matter.

While Urueta and Ausmus are the only two candidates known to have received an interview, the Astros have presumably spoken to a number of potential targets. There’s naturally been speculation about Flores’ ties to both Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols from his days as a player and scouting director with the Cardinals. Both franchise icons have been vocal about their desire to manage someday. Morosi reported on an MLB Network appearance that Pujols has indeed received consideration from the Astros, though it’s unclear if he’s actually interviewed. McTaggart wrote on Monday that the team would like to make a hire by the end of this week.