HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros have hired James Click as the club’s new general manager, Astros Owner and Chairman Jim Crane announced today. He becomes the 13th general manager in franchise history.

Click, Crane and Astros manager Dusty Baker will be available tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in the press conference room at Minute Maid Park. The Astros kindly ask media to refrain from contacting the trio for interviews prior to the press conference. Additionally, Click and Baker will both be in attendance at tomorrow’s scheduled media luncheon, set to begin at 11:30 a.m.

The press conference will be live streamed on Astros.com, on the Astros Facebook page and on the Astros twitter account. Please note, media outlets are prohibited from live streaming the press conference.

Click, 42, joins the Astros from the Tampa Bay Rays, where he served as the club’s Vice President of Baseball Operations for the last three seasons (2017-19). Click’s career with Tampa Bay spanned 14 years, originally joining the club as a Coordinator of Baseball Operations in 2006. Since then, he also served as the Rays Director of Baseball Research and Development and later Director of Baseball Operations.

“James has had an impressive career,” Crane said. “He is a respected leader who has progressed in this game across all aspects of Baseball Operations and he has built great relationships with both front office and clubhouse personnel. I am thrilled to introduce him as our new General Manager – he is a great addition to the Astros.”

“I am excited to join the Astros family,” Click said. “The Astros are a progressive and innovative organization with a deeply talented group in the front office. I am grateful to Jim Crane and the Astros for giving me this opportunity to help lead this team to more championships.”

In his role as the VP of Baseball Operations, Click was involved in guiding and overseeing all aspects of the baseball operations department. His areas of focus were research and development, strategic planning, and innovation, with particular attention on the Rays’ efforts to create and maintain department wide initiatives on player evaluation, player assessment, roster configuration, trade and contract negotiation, league relations, and staff management.

A Durham, N.C. native and graduate of Yale University (B.A., History), Click wrote for Baseball Prospectus for several years before joining the Rays. He and his wife, Ace, look forward to moving to Houston with their sons, Sam and Nate.

Reminder, the Astros Media Luncheon is scheduled for tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. CT in the Diamond Club at Minute Maid Park. Additionally, the Astros clubhouse staff will be loading the Spring Training equipment truck tomorrow morning. Media are welcome to shoot b-roll of the loading beginning at 9:45 a.m.