A.J. Hinch named new manager of the Houston Astros

According to multiple reports, former big league catcher A.J. Hinch is set to take over as the new manager of the Houston Astros.

Following his seven-year-long big league career, Hinch was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the manager of minor league operations. One year after that, he assumed the role of director of player development. In early May 2009, the now-40-year-old Hinch replaced Bob Melvin as the Dbacks’ big league skipper, despite having no coaching or managerial experience at any level.

His time at the helm in Arizona was less-than-impressive, as the team went 89-123 from May 2009 to July 2010. Near the end of that season, his career with the Diamondbacks, which spanned over a half-decade, drew to a close, as he joined the San Diego Padres as the vice president of professional scouting, a position which he resigned from in early August this year.

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Former Houston manager Bo Porter, who enjoyed just under two seasons as the leader of the Astros, did help improve the club – at least in terms of wins and losses, picking up another 19 wins in 2014 – a drastic improvement from the team’s 111-loss 2013 campaign. Porter and bench coach Dave Trembley were relieved of their duties late this season due to ideological differences between himself and the Houston front office.

Several internal candidates were also considered for the position, according to Drellich.

"On Saturday, general manager Jeff Luhnow and assistant general manager David Stearns interviewed three internal candidates, interim manager Tom Lawless, third-base coach Pat Listach and Class AAA Oklahoma City manager Tony DeFrancesco. The Astros also had been connected with Dave Martinez, Phil Nevin, Torey Lovullo and Don Wakamatsu."

Hinch played for four clubs during his brief big league career, including the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers, batting .219 across 350 games.

The organization has a press conference scheduled for Monday evening.