Astros Fire Brad MIlls

The Houston Astros, baseball worst team in 2012, have announced the firing of manager Brad Mills, along with coaches Mike Barnett and Bobby Meacham late Saturday night. The club will not announce replacements until Sunday, but early speculation is that the interim managerial job will go to Joe Pettini, who was in his first season as the Astros bench coach, a role he had previously held in St. Louis.

When the Astros were sold to the Jim Crane group this past November, most of the previous regime were shown the door, including former team president Tal Smith and GM Ed Wade. Jeff Luhnow was lured away from the Cardinals front office to take over baseball operations in Houston, but elected to keep their incumbent skipper.

Unfortunately, after a 17-17 start to the year, the Astros have gone just 22-55 in the 77 games since. During that stretch, Luhnow jettisoned several veteran players in an effort to perform a much-needed roster overhaul. With a dearth of major league talent on the roster, it’s almost a wonder Mills’ Astros did as well as they had this season.

Mills, who ends his Houston tenure with a record of 171-274, was unlikely to be retained at the end of the season, anyhow, as the club held an option on his contract. Mills immediately becomes an internet favorite to replace Bobby Valentine in Boston.

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John Parent is the Senior Director of Human Resources for the FanSided Network. He can be reached at john.parent@fansided.com or via Twitter@JohnJParent.