The Astros fired manager Brad Mills, hitting coach Mike Barnett and first base coach Bobby Meacham late Saturday night after falling to 39-82 on the season with an eight-run loss to the Diamondbacks.
Here’s the reaction from Mills after his meeting with members of the Houston front office, courtesy of MLB.com beat writer Brian McTaggart:“You know when you’re having a rough season and everybody always brings it up, nobody lets you forget it. I love the players, I love the effort they gave every day. They’ve been great to me and how they’ve gone about everything and I love our fans. The fans we have here in Houston are the best and they’ve been great to me as well and I appreciate them an awful lot and I wish the best for the players and the fans as we move forward.
We’re going to move forward with some things and see what happens. The biggest thing is I’d like to go see my son play. For years, I’ve never really gotten an opportunity to watch him play and I want to see my daughter in law and see my granddaughter and watch him play a little bit and go from there.”
Mills’ son Beau is currently starting at first base for the Reds’ Double-A affiliate in Pensacola, Florida. As of Saturday night, the 26-year-old was batting .269/.348/.503 with nine homers and 26 RBI in 48 games.
Mills, who turns 56 years old in January, had a 171-274 record in his three seasons with the ‘Stros.