The Astros Just Hired the Guy Who Replaced the Cardinals Hacker

In the summer of 2015, the St. Louis Cardinals suddenly needed a new scouting director. The guy who had the job, Chris Correa, had been caught hacking into the Houston Astros database, and he eventually got a 46-month prison sentence.

The man St. Louis hired to replace him was Randy Flores. Yes, that Randy Flores. Houston’s brand-new general manager. You truly can’t make this stuff up.

Flores isn’t the first Cardinal to run this front office. Jeff Luhnow ran scouting and player development in St. Louis before Houston hired him as GM in December 2011. Investigators reportedly believed embarrassing Luhnow was the motive behind the hack. Petty, but effective drama. 

MLB made St. Louis pay for it, too. Houston got the Cardinals’ top two picks in the 2017 draft and 2 million dollars. 

To be fair, the Luhnow era didn’t end cleanly either. He was fired in January 2020 after the sign-stealing investigation. Nobody in this rivalry has clean hands.

Flores pitched five of his eight seasons in St. Louis and won the 2006 World Series there. Today, he’s interviewing Albert Pujols for the manager job at Daikin Park. They were teammates from 2004 to 2008.

If you’re an Astros fan of a certain age, you just felt a chill. Pujols hit 62 career home runs against Houston, including the Game 5 shot off Brad Lidge in the 2005 NLCS. Houston still won that series in six, so let’s all breathe. Yadier Molina has also said he wants to manage in the majors. I’m just saying, keep your phone close.

Borrowing from St. Louis doesn’t bother me. Flores ran drafts there starting in 2015 and became assistant GM in 2018. That’s the experience Houston hired.

I just want this team to still feel like the Astros. If Flores is going to hire a friend, I’d pick Morgan Ensberg. He was Flores’ teammate at USC, an All-Star third baseman for Houston in 2005, and he coached and managed in the Astros’ system from 2013 to 2018.

He brings the Flores connection without the red jersey. Sydney Cruse laid out the full list of manager candidates if you want the rest of the field.

Flores called his manager timeline “immediate,” and the GM Meetings start Nov. 9. Pujols today and Ensberg later this week means we could know a lot by then.

Twenty-one years after the 2005 NLCS, Houston keeps calling St. Louis for help. I’ll allow it. Just maybe not two Cardinals in a row.

More from AstrosRoundtable:

Astros’ New GM Randy Flores Is on a Mission to Find a New Manager

Yordan Alvarez Named Silver Slugger Finalist After Stellar 2026 Season

What the Astros Picking Up Isaac Paredes’ Option Means for the 2027 Infield