Astros Rumor Roundup: How Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Milwaukee, Atlanta and Seattle Are Covering Houston's Search

The Astros' search for a general manager isn't only a Houston story anymore. Once candidates' names started coming out Tuesday, writers who cover the teams those executives work for started reporting from their end.

Here's what the other teams' beats and team sites have said since Tuesday morning, Oct. 20, through Wednesday morning, Oct. 21. All times are Central.

A quick recap: USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Tuesday at 9:35 a.m. that Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine is a serious candidate for the job. That afternoon, The Athletic's Chandler Rome added White Sox assistant GM Josh Barfield and Cardinals assistant GM Randy Flores and reported that the Astros could name a GM before the World Series ends. Tuesday night, Rome added Royals senior vice president Scott Sharp and Braves assistant GM Ben Sestanovich, per MLB Trade Rumors. Wednesday morning, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reported that internal assistant GMs Gavin Dickey and Charles Cook have also interviewed.

Chicago: Sun-Times says Barfield met with Crane in Houston

The Chicago Sun-Times' White Sox beat writer James Fegan wrote up the Barfield candidacy Tuesday, citing The Athletic's report. The paper shared it on X at 5:06 p.m.

Fegan added a detail from the Chicago side. Near the end of the regular season, before the White Sox swept through the wild-card round in two games, Barfield "was seen on the field at Daikin Park in Houston having a lengthy chat with Astros owner Jim Crane."

The White Sox hired Barfield away from his job as the Diamondbacks' director of player development in September 2023, and he just finished his third full season as an assistant GM in Chicago. Fegan wrote that Barfield has had "a weighty influence" on the club's player development and acquisitions departments. The White Sox improved by 19 wins in 2025 and by 23 more in 2026, and Fegan reported that other clubs also considered Barfield for promotions last offseason.

"It's the best decision I could have ever made," Barfield said this spring about joining the White Sox. "Because I really believe in what we're doing."

Fegan framed the news as part of the "potential for front office brain drain" that comes with Chicago's surprising 2026 season.

St. Louis: Cardinals beat writers on Flores and Crane's St. Louis ties

Two Cardinals beat writers passed along Rome's Flores report Tuesday afternoon.

The Belleville News-Democrat's Jeff Jones posted at 2:44 p.m. that Rome was reporting Flores "as one of three candidates to draw 'serious interest' from the Astros for their GM job."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold followed at 2:52 p.m. and later edited the post at 3:49 p.m. to say the news was "per report linked below", meaning Rome's story. Goold wrote that Flores was getting "serious interest" for the Houston opening and that it "would not be the first time that Jim Crane, who grew up in St. Louis area, has dipped into" the Cardinals' front office. He added that Crane "has also relied on John Mozeliak's insight before."

St. Louis, part 2: Redbird Rants revisits the Luhnow history

Redbird Rants, a Cardinals fan site in the FanSided network (not a newspaper beat), ran a longer take from J.T. Buchheit headlined "A familiar invader is rumored to be encroaching on the Cardinals front office". It went up Tuesday at 5 p.m., and the site promoted it on X Wednesday at 8:32 a.m.

Buchheit's angle is history. After the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series, Houston hired Jeff Luhnow, who had run St. Louis' drafts since 2005, as its GM. Buchheit notes that Luhnow rebuilt the Astros' farm system and that Houston won the World Series six years after he took over a team that went 56-106 in 2011. He also brings up the 2015 scandal in which Chris Correa, Luhnow's successor as Cardinals scouting director, got into the Astros' computer system without authorization.

On Flores, Buchheit wrote that he ran the Cardinals' drafts from 2016 to 2025 and found players beyond the early rounds such as Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar and Andre Pallante. He noted that other outlets have also linked Flores to the Angels, where he would work for his old boss, Mozeliak. Buchheit also wrote that Houston's farm system is ranked 29th of 30 by Baseball America.

New York: Daily News confirms the Medick hire

The search isn't the only front-office news. The Athletic's Rome reported at 3:51 p.m. Tuesday that the Astros are hiring Spencer Medick as their new director of pitching. The New York Daily News' Yankees beat writer Gary Phillips confirmed it at 4:22 p.m., writing, "Sources confirm that Spencer Medick is joining the #Astros as their new director of pitching."

Phillips wrote that Medick was the Yankees' Triple-A pitching coach last season and that he guided Scranton/Wilkes-Barre "to the 4th-best ERA and K/9 rate in the International league." Medick spent the last four years in the Yankees' minor league system and has also worked at Driveline. MLB Trade Rumors, summarizing Rome's report, said Medick will oversee the team's pitching development in a non-uniform role.

Milwaukee: Brewer Fanatic on Kleine

Brewer Fanatic, a Brewers-focused site (not a newspaper beat), ran a post from Steve Drumwright Tuesday afternoon based on Nightengale's report. Drumwright wrote that Kleine "has been a popular name the last two years" for other teams' openings.

Drumwright described Kleine as the top assistant to Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold. He wrote that Kleine joined Milwaukee as a scout in 2007 after a brief internship with the Astros, has been on the baseball operations staff since 2014 and became an assistant GM after the 2023 season.

His closing note was a warning: Kleine "will have to figure out whether he wants the top job while working for an owner, Jim Crane, who has been heavy-handed in personnel moves."

Atlanta: Battery Power asks if Sestanovich is next

Battery Power, the SB Nation Braves site (a fan-network site, not a newspaper beat), asked Wednesday morning whether Sestanovich is the Astros' next GM. The post, by a writer credited as Ivan, went up at 8 a.m. and was shared on X at 9:31 a.m.

Its main point is that it would be a familiar move. Dana Brown, whom the Astros fired in August, came from the Braves, where he was vice president of scouting. "It strikes me as odd that Astros owner Jim Crane would show Brown the door, only to then hire another guy from the Braves' front office… but Crane does Crane things," Ivan wrote.

The post says Sestanovich is one of five Braves assistant GMs and focuses on player development, and that he ran player development for the Padres before Atlanta hired him ahead of the 2020 season. (MLB Trade Rumors dates his Braves AGM job to 2019 and notes he pitched at Harvard.) Battery Power also credits him with helping Kyle Wright break out by switching to a sinker/curveball mix. That's the site's own claim, without a cited source.

We hadn't found any Braves newspaper beat coverage of the candidacy as of Wednesday morning.

Seattle: A Mariners station checks in on Espada

This one is about the manager's office, not the GM job. Seattle Sports 710, the Mariners' radio station, posted a closer look at former Astros manager Joe Espada, whom it calls a reported candidate for the Mariners' managing job. The story went up Tuesday morning, and the station shared it again on X at 9:35 p.m. For the story, Bump and Stacy talked to The Athletic's Rome.

Rome said the Astros' disappointing results weren't Espada's fault. "The rosters he had here for three years were not great," he said. "I don't think anything that's happened here in the last three years is an indictment on his managerial acumen. I think the problems in Houston are more kind of organizational and I think they're more they don't have enough good players anymore."

Rome called Espada "one of the more aggressive managers I think I've ever covered just in terms of bullpen deployment, in terms of pinch hitting." He also pointed out that Espada's first team started 12-24 and his last started 20-31, and both won the division. "You never saw him change who he was," Rome said.

The station noted that the Astros won two division titles in Espada's three seasons but lost two Wild Card Series 2-0, and called that "a contributing factor to owner Jim Crane not renewing his contract."

What's next

We haven't seen any Royals beat coverage of Sharp's candidacy yet. Rome has reported that a GM hire could come before the World Series is over. We'll keep tracking how other cities are covering the Astros in this daily roundup.

Sources: Chicago Sun-Times (James Fegan); Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on X; Jeff Jones, Belleville News-Democrat, on X; Redbird Rants (J.T. Buchheit); Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, on X; Brewer Fanatic (Steve Drumwright); Battery Power; Seattle Sports 710; Chandler Rome, The Athletic, on X; Bob Nightengale, USA Today, on X; Brian McTaggart, MLB.com, on X; MLB Trade Rumors.