Astros Rumors: Buck Showalter Interviewed for Manager Job Amid Scandal

The Houston Astros appear to be looking for an experienced manager to settle their clubhouse after firing AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow.  

ESPN reported the Astros interviewed Buck Showalter and will interview John Gibbons for their managerial vacancy. 

Showalter, 63, last managed the Baltimore Orioles in 2018. He has 20 years of managerial experience with the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Orioles.

Gibbons, 57, served two separate stints as Toronto Blue Jays manager from 2004-08 and 2013-18. He posted a 793-789 record overall.

The Astros are likely looking for a steady hand amid a period of organizational chaos. Major League Baseball fined the club $5 million, took away their first two rounds of draft picks for 2020 and 2021 and suspended Hinch and Luhnow after an investigation into the organization's sign-stealing scheme. The Astros subsequently fired Hinch and Luhnow.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred ripped the Astros for the franchise's "problematic" culture in a statement announcing the findings. 

"It is very clear to me that the culture of the baseball operations department, manifesting itself in the way its employees are treated, its relations with other clubs, and its relations with the media and external stakeholders, has been very problematic," Manfred wrote. "At least in my view, the baseball operations department's insular culture—one that valued and rewarded results over other considerations, combined with a staff of individuals who often lacked direction or sufficient oversight, led...finally, to an environment that allowed the conduct described in this report to have occurred."

Despite the controversy, the Astros will enter the 2020 season with one of the most loaded rosters in baseball. Both Showalter and Gibbons have led their teams to league championship series but neither has reached a World Series. It may be the Astros are looking to fix their culture problem first and foremost and view the managerial veterans as guys who can lead a turnaround, both from a perception standpoint and inside the clubhouse.