The Tampa Bay Rays have lost yet another member of their front office to an American League competitor.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — According to Ken Rosenthal, the Houston Astros have hired James Click to their general manager vacancy. Click was formally the Vice President of baseball operations for the Rays.
After an offseason full of scandal for the Astros, they now have found their GM and new manager, Dusty Baker. Baker signed a one year deal with the team last week.
The #Astros have announced James Click will be their new GM. Previously VP of baseball operations for #Rays. Graduate of Yale.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 4, 2020
Rays principal owner, Stuart Sternberg said this regarding Click:
“We wish James and his family well, and we thank him for his 15 years of great work with our organization. The departure of another talented, senior Rays executive is difficult. That difficulty is compounded by the timing of the departure, only days from the opening of spring training. A large number of former Rays staffers now populate senior team positions across the league. Most recently, two of the past three World Series winning teams, against whom we compete directly, have reached beyond their organizations and into our ranks to fill their top baseball operations positions. We have great organizational leadership, strong faith in our ability to regenerate, and we have supreme confidence in the men and women who will be stepping up into their newfound opportunities and responsibilities. That is the Rays way. It is who we are, it is what we do.”
Rosenthal later went on to report this:
New #Astros GM James Click signed a multi-year contract, source tells The Athletic. New manager Dusty Baker is under contract only for 2020.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 4, 2020
That now makes two members of the Rays front office that have gone to take roles with new teams this offseason. Chaim Bloom, who was also the VP of baseball operations, went to the Boston Red Sox as their new chief baseball officer. The recent success of the Rays has absolutely not gone unnoticed by the baseball world.
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