The Houston Astros have the worst record in baseball this season and are in the midst of a multi-year rebuilding project. Houston took initiative to try and steer things in the right direction on Thursday, hiring Nationals third base coach Bo Porter as the teams' next manager.
Porter will replace Brad Mills, who was fired last month after leading the Astros to a 39-82 record.
"I think he's going to push us to get better, he's going to push us to get better quickly, and he's going to shorten the time that it takes for us to get to where we want to be as an organization which is where the Houston Astros are competing year in and year out for division titles and championships," general manager Jeff Luhnow told the Associated Press.
Porter will stay with the Nationals through the postseason and will join Houston once they are finished for the year. Tony DeFrancesco will continue as interim manager for the rest of the regular season.
The Astros have the worst record in baseball and has had two straight 100-loss seasons. The team was recently purchased by Jim Crane and will make a transition to the American League next season as part of baseball's realignment.
Houston will join the American League West division with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics.
Houston is hoping that Porter can help turn the Astros around, much like the Nationals have done this season. In 2010, the Nationals were 69-93 and had never finished with a record over .500; this season the team is 94-61 and has clinched a playoff spot. The team also should win its first NL East division.
"He's been part of the Nationals' ascent, and that's a model that we look at as the Astros to say we'd like to get to that point where we can go from a team that has a losing record to a team that can win a division and compete for a championship like the Nationals are in a position to do this year," Luhnow said.
Porter was offered the job on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, as the Nationals were taking on the Phillies.
"He's putting together a great leadership team and I'm just honored to be a part of that leadership team," Porter said of Crane on a conference call.
Porter said he was looking forward to working with the Houston roster, which is filled with many young players that were drafted originally by the team.
"All of those guys are homegrown, and when you are able to grow your own talent and if they get to the big leagues and they are your core players, their level of commitment to the overall excellence of the organization runs a little bit deeper than players that come from the outside," he said. "That is a goal of this organization and one of the things that really drew me into this job."
Although most teams wait until after the season to announce managerial changes, the Astros were hoping to get started early and also did not want to lose Porter to another team.
"Part of the strategy was to try and get out in front of this," Crane said. "Wednesday when the season is over there will probably be people looking for managers. I think it did give us an advantage of getting out in front of things."
The Nationals, who are still playing important games, were cooperative with the Astros on the move, according to ESPN.com.
"Bo Porter joined our staff in 2011 to instruct and coach our young players in how to play the game right, and in how to win," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said in a statement. "He has been invaluable to us and our drive toward our first postseason."
Porter had previously been a bench coach with the Diamondbacks and a third base coach for the Marlins. This will be his first managerial positions. He interviewed at other openings over the past few years, including for the Pirates and Marlins.
"He has an intuitive sense of game strategy," Luhnow said. "The people that have worked with Bo before say that he really has an innate ability to understand the game and understand the moves that need to be made and do the right thing."
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