Smith: Astros face more uncertainty in front office

The Astros’ GM isn’t under contract for next season.

The Astros’ manager also doesn’t have a contract for 2023.

Hours before a 106-win team hosted Game 1 of another American League Division Series, the highly uncertain future shadowing the franchise’s front office and dugout returned to the spotlight.

Astros GM James Click followed manager Dusty Baker on a stage near the team’s clubhouse, addressing reporters Tuesday about an “injured player” whom Baker had just referred to.

The injured player was reliever Phil Maton, who was left off the club’s ALDS roster and soon revealed he would miss the entire postseason after punching his locker and fracturing the fifth metacarpal in his right hand.

The second question that Click received was about former assistant GM Pete Putila, who was announced Monday night as the new GM of the San Francisco Giants.

“What it does to our front office is creates a huge hole,” Click said at Minute Maid Park. “Pete is one of the brightest young executives — or really brightest executives, period — in the game today. I couldn’t be more excited for him. I think it’s a well-deserved opportunity. I think he’s going to do very, very well there and bring a lot to that organization.”

Brain drains have been an annual issue for the Astros since 2015. The team has answered the front office and staff departures by continuing to win between the lines. This ALDS marks the seventh time in eight seasons the rebuilt Astros have made the playoffs.

Mike Elias, who once worked closely with former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, is now the executive vice president and GM of the Baltimore Orioles.

Putila, who was valued by Luhnow and Click, had risen within the Astros’ organization and been through multiple regime changes in Houston.

“We are obviously still working on how we are going to adjust and adapt, but this is a chance for the depth of our front office to show what they can do,” Click said. “This is part of the reason that we want to have quality people at all levels of the organization — so that we can fill in internally. I don’t anticipate us going external to try to replace Pete.”

Baseball, more than any other major sport, is defined by the smallest of competive advantages at the front-office and player development level.

How does a GM with an expiring contract fill a “huge hole” in the Astros’ front office?

How does Click prepare for this offseason and beyond when there is no guarantee he or Baker will return in 2023?

Astros owner Jim Crane walked by the interview room before Click spoke and was on the field prior to Game 1 of the ALDS. But Crane, who was unavailable in late September for a Chronicle story about the Astros’ GM and managerial uncertainties, did not speak with the media before Game 1.

Baker has said he wants to return next season.

Click has declined comment multiple times about his future with the Astros.

How does the organization’s current GM find a new assistant GM when all of MLB knows Click could be in his final days leading the Astros’ front office?

The lack of overall direction at the top left the third-year GM no choice but to zero in on the day-to-day of baseball and another Astros playoff game to be played.

“That’s not on my mind at all. We’re completely focused on the playoffs right now. We’ll take this in stride. We will adjust and move forward,” Click said. “We have a lot of quality people here in this organization, and I think this is an opportunity for a lot of them to show what they can do. Because there may be a cascade effect where somebody has to step into his role. We may redefine roles; we may move things around a little bit. But this is why we prioritize having a deep bench in the front office.”

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