The Houston Astros are on the search for their next manager for the franchise, after parting ways with former manager Joe Espada recently. Here is one name to know in this managerial search for the Astros, and this name deserves strong consideration.
Three Reasons Why Rodney Linares Should Be a Strong Candidate for the Astros Manager Job
1. Familiar With the Houston Astros
Rodney Linares is currently the bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays and has been since the 2019 season. Before that, Linares spent significant time with the Astros. Linares joined the Astros in 1999 at the age of 21 as a hitting instructor and spent 20 years with the team, overseeing the development of players such as second baseman Jose Altuve, third baseman Alex Bregman, right fielder George Springer, and shortstop Carlos Correa.
Linares is familiar with the Astros organization after spending a lot of time in the teams farm system for quite a bit of time and has an idea of what is expected and how things are done.
2. Coaching Experience in MLB
Linares excelled as the third base coach and was promoted to bench coach in 2022 after Matt Quatraro was hired by the Kansas City Royals. Linares has worked with top players such as third baseman Junior Caminero and other top stars on the team. While Linares doesn’t really have much Major League manager experience, Linares brings years of overall coaching experience.
From 1999-2004, Linares was the scout and hitting coach in the Dominican Republic operations and began his climb within the organization. In 2004, after the five-year stint as a hitting coach in the Dominican Republic, Linares became the hitting coach for the Lexington Legends from 2004-2006.
Linares then became manager for the Greenville Astros from 2007-2009 and then returned to be the manager for Lexington for the 2010-2011 season. Linares would then move on to be the manager of the Class A-Advanced Lancaster Jethawks from 2012-2014, and then the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks from 2015-2017.
In 2018, Linares went on to manage the Fresno Grizzlies. Linares led Fresno to a Pacific Coast League title in that same year. Linares would also go on to win some awards during his time as a manager in the Astros’ minor league system that are really notable during his time with the organization. After the 2018 season with the Grizzlies, the Rays hired Linares to be the Rays’ third-base coach for the 2019 season.
That could help Linares’ chances of getting a strong look from his former team that Linares spent over 20 years working for, and he could be a standout amongst any candidates and has the strongest resume when it comes down to coaching in the MLB.
Linares does have a strong chance at getting a look from the Astros organization and could land an interview with the team sooner rather than later as the Astros look for their next manager.
3. Overall a Good Fit
Linares would be a good fit overall if hired by the Astros or for really any organization that may need a manager to fill the vacancy. But again, Linares would fit like a glove in Houston and would be very familiar with everything inside the organization and what is needed to win overall. There is a case to be made that Linares would be a strong hire.
The Last Word
The Astros should probably give Linares a good, long, hard look as a strong candidate during this offseason as the team searches for their next manager for the 2027 season. Again, the team will have a lot of candidates to interview, but Linares really does shine out of every candidate the Astros will try to see that fit their organization. Linares could be one of the pieces that the Astros need to compete for championships again.
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