Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey Interview For Astros GM Job

The Astros have a front office vacancy and are considering a number of options. That apparently includes some internal candidates. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports that assistant general managers Gavin Dickey and Charles Cook interviewed for the vacancy. The report also lists Rays assistant general manager Kevin Ibach as a candidate, though it doesn’t specify whether Ibach has been interviewed. McTaggart suggests that Brewers assistant general manager Matt Kleine may be the favorite. Kleine was identified as a candidate earlier this week. General manager Dana Brown and the Astros parted ways in August. At that time, the club’s announcement indicated that owner Jim Crane would oversee the baseball operations department, with Brown’s duties to be split between the AGM trio of Dickey, Cook and Connor Huff, as well as senior advisor Jeff Bagwell. Dickey was hired by the Astros as a scout in 2011. He got promoted to assistant general manager in November of 2023. Cook was hired as a baseball operations apprentice in 2016 and got his assistant general manager title from the Astros four years ago. Ibach was hired by the Rays as a scout in 2012, after previously working for the Marlins and Orioles. He later got promotions to director of pro scouting, director of pro personnel, then player personnel vice president. He was bumped to assistant general manager with the Rays in 2024. It’s unclear if Dickey and Cook are serious candidates or if they were given courtesy interviews. Previous reporting has suggested the Astros might try to poach an executive from a small-market club. That was the case in 2020, when the Astros hired James Click away from the Rays to replace Jeff Luhnow, who was fired in the wake of the sign-stealing revelations. Click and Crane reportedly didn’t get along. Even though the Astros won the 2022 World Series, Click was offered just a one-year extension that he turned down. Crane ran the front office for a few months before hiring Brown away from the Braves. If Crane indeed wants to get a new front office leader from a club accustomed to succeeding with low payrolls, both Ibach and Kleine would fit the bill. Other candidates who have been connected to the job include White Sox assistant general manager Josh Barfield, Cardinals assistant general manager Randy Flores, Royals senior vice president Scott Sharp and Braves assistant general manager Ben Sestanovich. Some reporting has suggested a hire could be made before the World Series is done. Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images View Comments (5)