Report: Cardinals' Assistant GM in Running for Astros GM Job

Randy Flores, the St. Louis Cardinals front office executive who oversaw the drafting of Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson in 2020, Joshua Baez in ‘21, JJ Wetherholt in ‘24 and pitching prospect Liam Doyle in ‘25, is a finalist for the vacant general manager job with the Houston Astros, The Athletic reported on Tuesday.

Flores, 45, has been a fixture for the Cardinals for much of the past 20 years – first as a successful reliever on the 2006 teams that won the World Series and later as assistant general manager in charge of selecting college and high school talent in the MLB Draft. On Monday, Flores celebrated the 20-year anniversary of him being the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series – a game Adam Wainwright famously saved with his knee-buckling strikeout of Carlos Beltran.

First-year president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom not only retained Flores, but he changed his title to assistant general manager, amateur and pro acquisition.

Fellow Cardinals assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio was also a finalist for the GM job with the Athletics, but that organization went a different direction with their hire, and the Cardinals retained the executive popular with many of the team’s veteran players. 

Longtime Milwaukee Brewers executive Matt Kleine, Chicago White Sox assistant GM Josh Barfield and Flores are among the candidates who have drawn serious interest from the Astros, sources told The Athletic. None of those three candidates have ever been the lead on an MLB front office, but that hasn’t been an issue in the past with the Astros’ previous three GMs – Dana Brown, James Click or former Cardinals executive Jeff Luhnow.

Houston owner Jim Crane fired Brown in mid-August, and he could promote assistant general managers Charles Cook, Gavin Dickey or Connor Huff.

“Experience is valuable, but not necessary,” Crane told The Athletic in August. “We’ve had a pretty good run with the guys we’ve had one way or the other. All of that is measured – experience in business, experience in baseball, always helps.”

Cardinals Saw Dominance from Brewers Coming Throughout 2026 Season

Flores, who pitched for the Texas Rangers (2002), Colorado Rockies (2002), Cardinals (2004-08), Rockies (2009-10) and Minnesota Twins (2010), was hired by former Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to be their director of scouting in August of 2015. He was promoted to assistant general manager in 2018, and scored Walker (No. 21 pick), Winn (No. 54 pick) and Burleson (No. 70 pick) in the transformational 2020 MLB Draft. Walker was a first-time All-Star and the MLB Home Run Derby champion in 2026. Winn is a finalist for his second Gold Glove Award while Burleson became the first Cardinals player in 55 years to lead MLB in RBI with 116.

Picking in the Top 10 of the MLB Draft for the first time in 26 years, the Cardinals nabbed Wetherholt with the No. 7 pick in 2024. The standout second baseman was the top prospect in the system before making his MLB debut on Opening Day this past season. Wetherholt, who homered in his first MLB game and had a walk-off single in his second game, had 17 homers, 15 doubles and 14 stolen bases this past season. He also set a rookie record in Defensive Outs Above Average (since 2016) with 25, and he is a favorite to become just the second player in the storied history of the Cardinals to win a Gold Glove as a rookie.

Flores jumped at the chance to select the power arm of Doyle out of the University of Tennessee with the No. 5 pick in 2025. Doyle, who was chosen to pitch in the MLB Futures Game, showed why he is the No. 2-ranked player in the Cardinals’ Minor League system by striking out 130 batters in 103 innings at Double-A Springfield. In two postseason starts, he allowed just one earned run and struck out 14 in 8 2/3 innings pitched.