Dusty Baker Agrees to New Astros Contract After 2022 World Series Title

Dusty Baker isn't going anywhere.

Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston reported the Houston Astros will announce during a Wednesday press conference the longtime manager is returning in 2023 to lead the reigning World Series champions.

Despite the success the organization has recently enjoyed, apparently it wasn't always a sure thing Baker would return.

In September, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (h/t Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors) said Baker and general manager James Click's contracts were "a topic that has been whispered about in the Astros organization, people both in and out of the clubhouse, since the beginning of the season" with Click in particular "not just a rubber-stamp thing."

According to Rome's reporting on Tuesday, that remains the case for Click:

While there was some uncertainty, keeping Baker in the dugout means the Astros still have one of the best managers in the league leading the way.

The 73-year-old, who was also a two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner as a player, has three Manager of the Year awards and two league pennants on his resume. He has managed the San Francisco Giants (1993-2002), Chicago Cubs (2003-06), Cincinnati Reds (2008-13), Washington Nationals (2016-17) and Astros (2020-present) with a 2,093-1,790 overall record.

His teams have made 12 playoff appearances, but an elusive World Series crown remained the one glaring omission until this season.

He came close in the past when his 2002 Giants lost the World Series in seven games to the Anaheim Angels, the 2003 Cubs fell one win short of reaching Fall Classic and the 2021 Astros lost the World Series to the Atlanta Braves.

It was championship-or-bust in 2022 for Houston, and it was no surprise that Baker steered the team through such a pressure-packed situation given his track record.

The Astros won the American League West with ease at 106-56, which was the best record in the AL and good enough to earn a first-round bye in the new playoff format as one of the top two seeds.

Then they parlayed that into the crowning achievement of the manager's career.

Even before the championship, it was impossible to classify Baker's time with Houston as anything but a success given the reality of the situation when he took over ahead of the 2020 campaign.

Houston's sign-stealing scandal had just stunned the baseball world, and MLB responded by fining the franchise $5 million, stripping it of its first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021, and suspending then-general manager Jeff Luhnow and then-manager AJ Hinch for one year.

The Astros fired both Luhnow and Hinch in the aftermath.

All Baker did was lead the team to the American League Championship Series in the shortened 2020 campaign, the World Series in 2021 and the title in 2022.

Now he is back and looking for a second championship ring.