Brewers Assistant GM Matt Kleine Emerges as Serious Candidate for Astros GM Job

Houston's search for a general manager finally has a name attached to it, and it comes from the National League champions.

Milwaukee Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine "has emerged as a serious candidate for the Houston Astros' GM vacancy," USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported on X Tuesday morning at 9:35 a.m. CT. Nightengale noted Kleine has been with the Brewers organization since 2007. ClutchPoints' Benjamin Adducchio followed with background on the report, framing it as Houston looking to pull from a World Series-bound club.

Who is Matt Kleine?

Kleine is a homegrown Milwaukee executive. When the Brewers promoted him in November 2023, the club's announcement on MLB.com laid out a résumé that runs through nearly every level of a baseball operations department:

• Hired as an associate scout in 2007
• Baseball operations and amateur scouting intern (2009-11)
• Baseball operations assistant (2011-13)
• Coordinator of advance scouting and baseball contracts (2013-14)
• Manager of baseball operations (2014-17)
• Director of baseball operations (2018-19)
• Vice president of baseball operations for four seasons before his promotion

That November 2023 move made him one of three assistant GMs under GM Matt Arnold, alongside Will Hudgins and Karl Mueller. All three are still listed as assistant GMs in the Brewers' front office directory. Kleine is also a 2011 graduate of Marquette University Law School, which brought him back this January for its Sports Law Speaker Series.

Kleine also has a Houston connection. While a student at DePauw University, he interned with the Astros from August to December 2007, according to his LinkedIn profile, working in media relations, per a 2018 IndianaRBI profile. He's also an attorney: Kleine was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in May 2011, and state court records list him as an active attorney in good standing.

He has never been a GM. That wouldn't be new for Jim Crane: Jeff Luhnow, James Click and Dana Brown were all first-time GMs, and all three came from outside the organization, per MLB Trade Rumors. In August, Crane said "experience is valuable but not necessary."

Why Milwaukee makes sense

The Brewers are about as good a model as there is for winning on a budget right now. Milwaukee won a franchise-record 103 games, the best record in the National League, per MLB.com, took the NL Central and then swept the Dodgers in the NLCS. It's the Brewers' first trip to the World Series in 44 years.

Houston's interest also fits a path Nightengale floated right after Brown's exit. In August, he suggested the Astros could try to poach an executive from a small-market franchise with a track record of success, naming the Rays, Brewers and Guardians as examples, as summarized by MLB Trade Rumors.

The Astros need help. Houston went 81-81, won the AL West anyway and was swept by the White Sox in the Wild Card round. In his story on Joe Espada's exit, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart pointed to the issues: a club-record 19 starting pitchers used, an AL-leading 650 walks, and one of the worst offensive outfields in club history (.662 OPS). Most of the club's offseason pitching additions flopped, and that helped lead to Brown's departure.

The World Series wrinkle

The obvious complication is the calendar. The Brewers host the Rays in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday, Oct. 23, at American Family Field, and a Game 7, if needed, would fall on Halloween, per MLB.com's World Series FAQ.

A candidate whose team is still playing isn't going to be easy to schedule. Crane signaled in August that he was willing to wait. "We'll take our time," he said, per MLB.com. "There's not a lot you can do right now when everyone's playing, but we'll look at that at the end of the season. We've got plenty of time to do that."

Houston has a second opening to fill, too. The Astros declined to renew Espada's contract on Oct. 14, so they need a manager as well as a GM. If Houston waits on Kleine, the manager search could slow down with it.

What it means for the interim group and Bagwell

Since the Astros and Brown parted ways Aug. 24, baseball operations have run through a committee. Brown's responsibilities went to assistant GMs Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey and Connor Huff and senior advisor Jeff Bagwell, with Crane overseeing baseball operations through the transition, per MLB.com.

Bagwell has been the name fans keep coming back to. The Hall of Famer has held his senior advisor title since April 2023 and had reportedly built considerable influence in baseball ops before that, per MLB Trade Rumors. In August, Nightengale suggested Bagwell and Cook could both get serious consideration for the job. Asked directly whether Bagwell was under consideration, Crane wouldn't say, answering only that the Astros didn't have any candidates yet. "Jeff's in the same role he has always been," Crane added. "He's a senior advisor, and he works with the GMs and myself and assists when necessary," per MLB.com.

Fans online made the connection right away, with one asking whether a Kleine hire would "finally put to rest the talks of Bagwell wanting to be GM." A serious outside candidate does point the search away from promoting from within. Still, Kleine is only a candidate right now, and nothing has been reported about what Bagwell's role would be if Houston hires from outside.

The other question is how much authority the next GM would actually have. Crane has been overseeing baseball operations himself since August, with input from the three assistant GMs and Bagwell. Any outside hire, Kleine or someone else, would be stepping into that setup, and the Astros haven't said how it would change.

Sources: Bob Nightengale on X, ClutchPoints, MLB.com (Brown), MLB.com (Crane), MLB.com (Espada), MLB.com (Brewers promotions), MLB.com (World Series), MLB Trade Rumors, Marquette Law School.