The Athletic names Braves coaches Walt Weiss & Eric Young Sr. as potential replacements for Dusty Baker in Houston

New Astros GM Dana Brown's ties to the Atlanta organization mean one of the two current assistants could get poached for Houston's vacancy

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has officially retired, and a member of the Atlanta Braves coaching staff may end up being his replacement.

Baker, 76, apparently had indicated his intentions to close friends late in the season and made the news official to the Houston Astros after they were eliminated in the ALCS by the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Baker would finish his career with a record of 2183-1862, winning two pennants and the 2022 World Series. 

Baker has several ties to the Atlanta franchise - he was drafted by Atlanta in 1967, spending eight years with the organization before being traded after the 1975 season to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was reportedly close with Hank Aaron, the legendary Braves outfielder who remained with the organization as an advisor up until his death in 2021. After Baker's 19-year playing career concluded, Aaron was the one that urged him to begin coaching and referred him to San Francisco Giants general manager Al Rosen, who eventually hired him as a 1st base coach. 

And now with his retirement, another member of the Braves may follow in Baker's footsteps. 

The Athletic's Chandler Rome, staff writer covering the Houston Astros, wrote an extensive piece ($) on Thursday morning chronicling who the franchise is considering to replace Baker. Given his background as a former member of the Atlanta Braves front office, if general manager Dana Brown is given autonomy to make the selection, Rome thinks both Walt Weiss and Eric Young Sr. could be candidates in Houston. 

Writes Rome:

In a scenario where Brown has full autonomy to hire his own manager, both Atlanta Braves coaches are obvious candidates. Brown spent four seasons with the Braves before arriving in Houston last February. He and Young were high school teammates at New Brunswick High School while Weiss has four years of managerial experience with the Colorado Rockies. 

Interestingly, there's no mention in the article of the seemingly obvious choice to become a manager off of the Braves coaching staff: Third base coach Ron Washington. 

Washington, like Baker, went into coaching after his playing career. He began coaching with the Oakland A's before moving up to manager of the Texas Rangers from 2007-2014. He twice took them to the World Series, losing in both 2010 (San Francisco Giants) and 2011 (St. Louis Cardinals) before resigning for personal reasons after the 2014 season. 

It's possible that Washington's age - he's currently 71 - and his past missteps while manager - he tested positive for cocaine use in 2009 and attributed his 2014 resignation to the need to reconcile with his family after an extramarital affair - are reasons why Washington wouldn't be considered by Houston for their vacancy. 

In 2021, Washington was asked about becoming a manager one final time before retirement and he expressed "I think I’m qualified. I think I can get that team over the hump. That’s my thinking. I’m definitely able to get them where they want to go." and has spoken with Chicago (White Sox), San Diego, and Kansas City, among others, about their vacancies in recent years.  

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