Dusty Baker will return to lead the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in 2023, the team announced Wednesday.
Baker and the Astros agreed to the terms of a one-year contract, team owner Jim Crane said during a press conference.
The Astros took home Game 6 by a score of 4-1 to beat the Philadelphia Phillies and win their second World Series title in franchise history. The victory also marked Baker’s first championship as a MLB manager.
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Baker has been a big league manager for 25 years. It was unclear if the 73-year-old would want to return to the dugout.
But the contract extension means that the three-time Manager of the Year is committed for at least one more season.
Baker did win a World Series as a player in 1981 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
During his playing career, he was named to two All-Star teams, won two Silver Slugger awards and a Gold Glove.
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He has been the manager of the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals and the Astros. Baker’s teams have appeared in the playoffs 12 times.
Baker was the manager of the 2002 San Francisco Giants team that won the National League pennant but lost to the then-Anaheim Angels in the World Series.
Last year, Baker and the Astros made it to the World Series but lost in six games to the Atlanta Braves.
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This season, the Astros won 106 games, won the AL West, captured the pennant and then went on to win the title.
Baker took over what was by most accounts a difficult job. The Astros were coming off the heels of a sign-stealing scandal that stemmed from the 2017 World Series.
As a result, the franchise was fined $5 million and forfeited its first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. General manager Jeff Luhnow and team manager A.J. Hinch were suspended and later fired.
Under Baker’s leadership, the Astros appeared in the ALCS in 2020. And in the last two seasons, Houston has played in the World Series.
The Astros will begin their campaign to repeat as champions in 2023 with Baker at the helm.
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