Astros Hire Guardians' Conner Watson as Director of Hitting

The Astros have added another development-side voice to their front office. Houston is hiring Conner Watson as its new director of hitting, The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported at 3:40 p.m. CT Sunday, citing a source. MLB Trade Rumors passed along Rome's report a few minutes later (MLBTR on X).

Watson spent the past two seasons as the Cleveland Guardians' assistant director of hitting development, Rome wrote. Before that, he worked at Driveline Baseball.

Who is Conner Watson?

Cleveland announced the hire in November 2024 as part of a shakeup of its player development leadership. In the club's release, the Guardians credited his "innovative approach to hitting mechanics and player engagement developed during his three-year tenure as the Hitting Lead at Driveline Arizona." He was still listed as assistant director of hitting development in Cleveland's 2026 player development staff alignment.

His road to that job wasn't a typical one. Watson is a 2010 graduate of Millard North High School in Omaha, and he was cut from his high school baseball team, the Omaha World-Herald reported in 2023. At the time, the paper described him as the lead hitting instructor at Driveline's Arizona facility. He has also written for Driveline's blog, including a 2021 case study on a college hitter's bat speed and contact-quality gains during a summer of training.

Not a coaching-staff job

Like Spencer Medick, this isn't a uniformed spot on the major league staff. "Watson and Medick will oversee the entire organizational philosophy and infrastructure of their respective areas," Rome wrote. Asked who the new hires report to, Rome replied that everyone ultimately reports to the GM, but that these jobs, in most cases, report directly to a farm director, an assistant GM, or both.

It's Houston's second development-side front office hire in under a week. On Oct. 20, Rome reported that the Astros were hiring Medick, the Yankees' Triple-A pitching coach last season, as director of pitching. The New York Daily News' Gary Phillips confirmed that hire. Like Watson, Medick is a Driveline alum.

Why it matters

Our take: The Astros still don't have a general manager. Jim Crane fired Dana Brown in August, and MLB.com's Brian McTaggart has reported that Houston will hire a GM before turning to a replacement for manager Joe Espada. Even so, the club isn't waiting to fill its pitching and hitting development jobs. Two Driveline-trained hires in less than a week is a strong hint about how Houston plans to develop players, no matter who ends up running baseball operations. For a team that just watched its season end in a Wild Card sweep, an organization-wide plan for building hitters could matter as much as anything the new GM does this winter.

Around the MLB

• The World Series heads to Tampa Bay. The Brewers lead the Rays 2-0, and Game 3 is Monday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. CT at Tropicana Field on FOX. Milwaukee is two wins from its first championship. (MLB.com)

Sources: Chandler Rome on X (Watson), (role), (reporting), (Medick), MLB Trade Rumors, Guardians release (via Canadian Baseball Network, 2024), Guardians 2026 staff alignment, Omaha World-Herald (2023), Driveline Baseball, Gary Phillips on X, MLB.com (GM search), MLB.com (World Series Game 3).

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