The Rays will never know exactly how much the Astros cheating scandal impacted them on the field. But now it cost them a top executive.
Vice president James Click was hired Monday as Houston's general manager, replacing the fired Jeff Luhnow.
Click, 42, had been given expanded duties earlier this offseason as one of three executives elevated to replace senior vice president Chaim Bloom, who left to take over the Red Sox.
Now Click gets an unexpected opportunity to run his own team, where he will join newly hired manager Dusty Baker to try to move the defending American League champs past the scandal.
Click, 42, joined the Rays in 2005 as an intern to help build a database for new baseball operations chief Andrew Friedman. Click got hired full time in 2006, and the Yale history major has worked his way up to vice president of baseball operations. He has a hand in all facets of the operation, including systems, research and development, logistics, player evaluation, contract negotiations and more.
