HOUSTON -- With free agency set to begin Monday and the General Managers Meetings scheduled for the following week in Las Vegas, the Astros’ search for their new general manager could be entering its final days.
The name at the top of their list, as first reported Thursday by The Athletic, is Brewers assistant general manager Matt Kleine, who was a part of a Milwaukee club that won the World Series earlier this week. According to a source, Kleine recently signed an extension with the Brewers, which means the Astros would have to buy him out of that new deal.
The Astros have been interviewing GM candidates for the past few weeks following the departure of Dana Brown on Aug. 24. Brown’s responsibilities were transitioned to assistant GMs Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff, as well as senior advisor Jeff Bagwell, who, along with owner Jim Crane, has been overseeing baseball operations since. Brown had served as the club's GM since Jan. 26, 2023.
Cook and Dickey are among those who interviewed for the GM position, MLB.com reported last week. The most recent name to have known to interview is former Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, who was in Houston earlier this week, according to a source. Kleine was spotted on the red carpet with Crane at the Houston Sports Awards earlier this month.
The attraction to the 40-year-old Kleine is obvious. The Brewers won the World Series with the 19th-largest payroll in MLB in 2026, and the success of Milwaukee and fellow smaller market teams Cleveland and Tampa Bay this season caught Crane’s attention.
“I think you’re watching some pretty good teams that don’t have big payrolls,” Crane said on Aug. 25 in his first comments since Brown’s departure. “That’s certainly something we’ll study very hard."
Crane also said in August that “experience is valuable but not necessary” when it comes to a new GM. His previous three GM hires -- Jeff Luhnow, James Click and Brown -- did not have any GM experience before arriving in Houston. Neither does Kleine, but his résumé is strong.
An intern in the Astros’ media relations department in 2007, Kleine just finished his 20th season with the Brewers and was promoted to assistant GM on Nov. 1, 2023. His primary areas of focus include roster construction, Major League transactions, financial planning, player evaluation, contract negotiation, staffing and procedural compliance. He also oversees the team's salary arbitration practice.
Kleine joined the Brewers organization as an associate scout in 2007, a position he held until '09. He has also served roles as baseball operations and amateur scouting intern (2009-11), baseball operations assistant (2011-13), coordinator of advance scouting and baseball contracts (2013-14), manager of baseball operations (2014-17), director of baseball operations (2018-19) and vice president of baseball operations (2020-23).
Brown, a former scout and longtime baseball executive, was hired to replace Click, who left the club after beating the Phillies in the 2022 World Series. Brown joined the Astros after spending the previous four seasons (2019-22) as the vice president of scouting in Atlanta, where he oversaw the drafting of 2022 National League Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II and the runner-up, pitcher Spencer Strider, among others.
Brown immediately signed pitcher Cristian Javier to an extension in Houston and hinted there would be other extensions. But he wasn’t able to keep the Astros’ core together, including losing star third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency after the 2024 season -- the same offseason in which Houston traded star right fielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs.
That deal worked out well for the Astros, who got right fielder Cam Smith, third baseman Isaac Paredes and starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski in return. But Brown’s efforts to rebuild the Astros’ farm system have heretofore been unspectacular, and most of his offseason pitching acquisitions last winter were busts.
Right-hander Ryan Weiss, signed last offseason to a one-year, $2.6 million deal with a $5 million option for 2027, had a 7.62 ERA in 26 innings and was designated for assignment in June. He pitched the rest of the season with Triple-A Sugar Land and had a 5.42 ERA in 76 1/3 innings. His option for '27 wasn’t picked up.
Meanwhile, right-hander Tatsuya Imai, who signed a three-year, $54 million deal in January, opted into his deal for 2027, which is worth $18 million. He pitched in 23 games (15 starts) for the Astros this year and was 6-4 with a 4.93 ERA. He struck out 97 and walked 51 in 76 2/3 innings. Imai pitched out of the bullpen in the final two months, mostly in a mop-up role.