New Astros GM Randy Flores talks manager search, possible lockout strategies

LAS VEGAS — Randy Flores has been the Houston Astros' general manager for less than two weeks, and his first big decision is nearly made.

Flores said Tuesday at the Major League Baseball general managers meetings that the search for a new manager is trending in a positive direction and he expects a hire within a week.

"Hopefully we're at the spot soon of dotting some i's and crossing t's, and look to make a decision soon," Flores said.

Flores, hired Oct. 30 to succeed Dana Brown, made the manager search his first order of business after the Astros declined to renew Joe Espada's contract on Oct. 14. Espada went 256-229 overall, but Houston finished 81-81 last season and was swept by the Chicago White Sox in the wild-card series.

Four candidates have been reported as interviewing — New York Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, Texas Rangers bench coach Luis Urueta, former Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg and former slugger Albert Pujols — but Flores said the group is bigger than what's been reported.

"It's more than four at various levels of communication," Flores said.

The search has moved fast. Flores noted some clubs take two months or six weeks, but Houston wanted the manager in place first. Flores said Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey, Jeff Bagwell and owner Jim Crane have joined him in the interviews, and he has met every candidate.

The coaching staff comes next, still at the whiteboard stage.

"Filling that out is, in the modern construction, collaboration," Flores said. "We want to pair that with our manager's rolodex."

The roster work waits, too. The in-depth evaluation comes after the hire, but Flores already knows the pressure points: outfield production and an infield logjam.

"The math's the math on that, and that's something that we have to really take a hard look at and how we solve," Flores said of the infield.

How the new CBA could impact the Astros

Then there's the calendar. MLB's Collective Bargaining Agreement expires Dec. 1, and a lockout is expected to follow. Flores said Houston will be intentional about its pace once it leaves Las Vegas — seven agent groups Tuesday, other clubs lined up — before heading back to Houston at week's end.

Flores hopes to be back in Houston by week's end with the decision finalized, then spend next week "in bunker down mode," filling out the staff and setting the order of operations.

The uncertainty doesn't bother him.

"That's what makes it fun. There is a lot of unknown," Flores said. "I remember last time we had an impending lockout, there were some pretty major, major deals that happened."

Flores has asked his staff to study how active teams were on the trade front ahead of the last lockout, using those deals as a guide. He wouldn't say whether trades or free agency will be the bigger avenue, only that Houston will be open to both and that the work can't wait on the labor picture to clear up.

"We have to be open to all those options," Flores said. "The work has to go ahead of that for sure."

The manager comes first. Everything else, including the staff, the roster and the winter plans, follows from that hire.

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.