CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 11: Manager Dusty Baker of the Washington Nationals speaks to the media before game four of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on October 11, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

In hopes of getting past their scandal as fast as possible, the Houston Astros have hired respected manager Dusty Baker.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Houston Astros have agreed to a one-year contract with Dusty Baker. The contract has a club option for a second year.

Baker is an odd choice for the Astros. The organization relies strongly on analytics and Baker is about as anti-analytics as it gets.

As the Chicago Cubs manager Baker once said that getting men on base “clogs the bases.” He also heavily relies on bunting. He toned down the bunting during his tenure with the Nationals, but he’s a proponent of every old-school tactic in the book. He has become enemy number one of the analytics crowd.

It’s possible that the Astros believe that bench coach Joe Espada will be able to handle the analytics side of the game.

He certainly has experience in that area, but he’s never worked for an anti0analyitcs manager. When it comes down to it Baker will be making the in-game calls, not Espada. The clash in philosophies makes little sense.

Yet, Baker’s record speaks for itself. He has a career record of 1,863-1,636, on a 162 game schedule that would be an 86-76 record. He’s made the playoffs at every stop he’s made in his career and has a record over .500 with every team’s he’s managed.

There’s only one thing that Baker has never done, win the World Series. Baler currently has the second most wins without a World Series. He trails only Gene Mauch’s 1,902 career wins. With Baker taking back to the field it’s a near certainty he will take hold of that top spot unless he wins a World Series in 2020.

It’s likely that Baker will be little more than a stopgap for the Astros. He only signed a one year deal and he’s 70-years-old. That said a team could do a lot worse for a one-year stopgap manager.

A contributor here at elitesportsny.com. I'm a former graduate student at Loyola University Chicago here I earned my MA in History. I'm an avid Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers fan. I am also a prodigious prospect nerd and do in-depth statistical analysis.